Xiaolin Showdown: Adventure Chronicles
by Dragon of Battle
Summary: Now the Xiaolin Warriors are stronger than ever, Chase Young hides in the darkness while plotting his next move. Raimundo must deal with being leader, helping his friends become Shoku Warriors. Jack Spicer begins working on evil projects far more deadly than his previous efforts. As the heroes hone their abilities, Master Fung waits to tell them their next great mission...
1. Spicer Force Four

Chase Young sat curled up in the throne room of his hidden palace, currently in his monstrous form, amongst his large pride of jungle cats. His reptilian eyes were wide open, but the immortal Heylin monk was in a meditative state.

He occasionally twitched and writhed, as though he were in pain. An image appeared in his head; a picture of himself, although happy and cheerful. This strange mirror image of his current self was fighting alongside the Xiaolin warriors, the same four monks who were his present enemies. These visions were making Chase uncomfortable.

"Perhaps I have been right about you all along. The good in you may be stronger than you know," said the echoing voice of Omi, the round headed Xiaolin Dragon of water, from one of Chase's true memories.

Chase gave a soft growl in irritation as Wuya, the Heylin witch, gracefully walked into his abode. Several big cats raised their heads in response, but quickly ignored her and resumed resting.

"Chase," she said softly with a smile, as if he was her husband. "You haven't been in your handsome form for quite some time."

With those words, Chase resumed his youthful human form in the blink of an eye, complete with armour. Wuya smile became larger as she thought he was doing her a favour, but her smile faded once she saw his foreboding scowl.

"This isn't my true form," muttered Chase, looking at his hands. "Human bodies are too...vulnerable."

"Nightmares are my specialty," Wuya said slyly. "You've been dreaming about back when you were with Dashi, haven't you?"

Chase sighed, for the first time in a while he looked somewhat concerned. "It's not that. I saw what I could've been if I had perhaps remained at his side. Omi's forays into time travel appear to have had strange effects on my memories."

"That's terrible! Let me get you some soup," Wuya said cheerfully. Chase sighed and almost felt the urge to roll his eyes.

"There are too many forces vying for power. The Xiaolin Dragons are experiencing a time of peace at the moment,' Chase muttered.

"If I haven't sensed a Shen Gong Wu, neither has that annoying lizard," Wuya said with a sneer, "It's been weeks."

"Hannibal Bean lurks in the shadows," Chase said, pacing back and forth with a look of disgust at the thought of the small fiendish genius. "Perhaps it would be best for us to wait for one side to crush the other. Then I would have more time to focus."

Chase immediately reverted back into his reptilian form and curled up once again. Wuya folded her arms with an annoyed grunt, but then a sudden surge of power shot up her spine. Wuya could feel a new Shen Gong Wu revealing itself.

"A Shen Gong Wu! Haven't felt this sensation for a while..." Wuya managed to calm herself down. "It won't be long before Dojo senses it too. Maybe I'll just sneak out ..." she said to herself quietly.

As she made her way to the exit of Chase's throne room, several jungle cats blocked her path, eyeing her cautiously. "I told you that we'd wait until either the monks or the bean fall to one another," Chase hissed, briefly snapping out of his deep meditation. "Then we'll move in and eliminate the victor."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Omi stood in the centre of the Xiaolin Temple's courtyard, practicing his fighting stance. It was dry, but dark rainclouds blackened the sky as though it was night. Kimiko arrived underneath the veranda and saw the Wudai Warrior of water all by himself.<p>

"There you are!" the Wudai Warrior of fire exclaimed. "Why aren't you inside? We've got the widescreen TV all set up!" Kimiko received no answer. "Dad's letting us be the first to experience Goo Zombies HD Remix!"

Omi ceased his fighting stance reluctantly and turned to face her. "I am sorry Kimiko. You may have educated me in the ways of video gaming during this time of peace, but not even the lure of improved sound quality and high definition visuals can interrupt me in trying not to fail Raimundo." Omi resumed performing various punches and kicks without losing his breath.

"You won't be failing him," Kimiko said cheerfully, trying to lift the spirits of the stern young monk.

There was no use trying to persuade Omi. "As Raimundo's left hand man, it is my duty to hone my skills in defending him and his teammates."

Omi resumed his fighting stance as Kimiko shrugged and returned inside. She had been perturbed by the little monk's behaviour ever since Raimundo had been promoted to leader.

She shook her head and joined Raimundo and Dojo who were sitting on two beanbag chairs in front of the towering television. They were playing a hover car racing game, and it was clear that Dojo had little knowledge of how to play.

"Which car am I again? Left side or right side?" Dojo asked in a panicked sounding tone of voice. He shrieked as his hover car exploded in a dramatic fireball, catapulting the driver's charred skeleton into the air.

The Shoku Warrior of the wind sighed loudly. "It was a bad, bad idea trying to teach you how to be a gamer while you have no flying to do." It seemed Raimundo had been enduring Dojo's fretting for quite a while.

"Hey! I had Goo Zombies HD all set up, and you're playing Rebel Racer Revenge?" Kimiko said to the Xiaolin team leader, sounding slightly let down.

"Yeah…" Raimundo seemed rather dejected and put the game on pause, but Dojo was still shivering and shaking in alarm. "I had…funny feelings playing it. It was a remake of the original Goo Zombies, which I played shortly before I came to the Temple. I guess it was nostalgia getting to me."

Kimiko also realised what Raimundo meant. "Wow, it's been a long time since then."

"Feels like it's been over seven years since you last went on an adventure," said Dojo, managing to recover from his fright. "But it must've been only a few weeks. I think I've lived so long my timekeeping skills aren't so great…"

Clay lumbered into the room, muffling a belch with his hand against his mouth. "And not so long ago the old pantry was full. All this boredom works up a mean appetite."

Raimundo glanced at the Wudai Warrior of earth. "Except for Clay, I think we've all changed a little."

Kimiko smiled. "Yeah, you're team leader now!"

The Brazilian monk sighed softly. "But I don't feel like it. Sure, Master Fung left about a week ago to go see Guan and left me to be the head of the house. Guess its leadership training or something." Raimundo shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes. "But with no adventuring, I have no leading to do. I guess Master Fung'll come back and pile some chores on me to whip me into shape."

With almost supersonic speed, Omi slid into the room. Dojo, finally managing to steady his heart, immediately shrieked again and began convulsing from the water monk's sudden appearance. "I heard something about chores, brave leader! As your left hand man, it is my duty to perform all chores for you!"

"Omi!" yelled Clay. "You've already done all our daily chores! A man's gotta get his own hands dirty sometimes. I sure hope you're not thinking of brushing Raimundo's teeth for him again!" Kimiko was about to say something similar about Omi's behaviour, but was going to leave out the part about the toothbrush fiasco.

"I apologise if I did not clean them thoroughly the last time," Omi said to Raimundo with a bow.

His three fellow warriors were ignoring him and crowding around the shaking Dojo. Kimiko picked up the quaking dragon in her hands. He was very hard to hold onto as she tried to settle him down, but it gradually became clear that his continuing spasms were not triggered by Omi at all.

Dojo was speaking gibberish before the monks could hear any audible words. "A Shen Gong Wu! A Shen Gong Wu-hoo-hoo!"

A smile appeared on the four Xiaolin warriors faces one by one as they exchanged looks. "That shock you gave him must've revitalized his rusty Wu senses!" Kimiko said to Omi.

"I am pleased to be of service, brave leader," Omi cheerfully said with another bow, making Raimundo roll his eyes.

Dojo regained his composure once again, wiping the froth from his mouth that had formed while he had been shaking. "It's been active for quite some time! Someone might've got to it early!" he spluttered.

"Jack Spicer's only got the Monkey Staff, and he's proven how challenging he can be with that!" Kimiko said jokingly.

"Hannibal somehow ended up with Mala Mala Jong," Raimundo added, sounding stern. "We better be prepared."

Raimundo, Clay and Kimiko were about to retrieve the Shen Gong Wu they wanted to take with them from the Temple vault, but Omi stepped in front of them carrying a large pile of the magical items to present to his comrades. "No need to be breaking a sweat; I have retrieved the five Shen Gong Wu to use on our mission! I hope they appease you, leader Raimundo."

Omi bowed and dropped the pile of Shen Gong Wu in front of the three friends. Raimundo put his hand to his forehead and let out a heavy sigh. Kimiko searched through the pile of artefacts for him; it looked like Omi had chosen the objects without thinking at all. She could tell with a glance that there were six objects, not five, and amongst them were the Gills of Hamachi, a Shen Gong Wu with a very specific purpose.

* * *

><p>It was not long before all four of them were riding on Dojo's back, high above the clouds. Kimiko held the mystic scroll of the Shen Gong Wu for her friends to see, and immediately the pictures came to life before their eyes.<p>

"I should've taken a flyer's refresher course," mumbled Dojo. "It's been a long time since I was last airborne. You kids better hold on tight while I try to remember the dragon's flying code!"

The animated picture on the scroll displayed the silhouette of a man shattering a lion statue with a karate chop, before placing one shard of the statue into a small cauldron at his feet. The pot began to shake and bubble, growing larger in size. The man then lifted out an exact replica of the statue he had destroyed.

"The Zaijian Cauldron can regenerate inanimate objects from even their smallest fragments," Kimiko read aloud.

Dojo began to lower in altitude, spiralling downwards gracefully until he came to rest by a glistening lake. The region was sheltered by a towering mountain range, and nearby was a small area of woodland.

"After we've snagged the Wu let's go to the nearest steakhouse and get some grub," Clay said as Dojo shrank back down to his diminutive size and hopped onto his hat.

Using Dojo like a compass, the party came to the shores of the quiet lake and began searching for the mystical item. Omi was running about frantically, distracting everyone from their investigations. "Rest your eyes, fellow warriors! Allow me to be the one who finds the Zaijian Cauldron!"

Kimiko managed to spy the object submerged in the shallow water while Omi was distracted by boasting. The cauldron was no larger than a person's head, and was an unremarkable dull bronze colour. Its front was shaped in the image of a serene face.

Kimiko whistled to her friends and held the Zaijian Cauldron above her head. "Party's over! Let's go back and celebrate!" she said cheerfully. Omi seemed disappointed that Kimiko had seen the Shen Gong Wu and not him, but he covered his displeasure with a huge grin and thumbs up when the Kimiko made eye contact.

Raimundo ran up to Kimiko to congratulate her, but his elation was cut short by a strange sensation in the air which only his heightened Shoku senses could feel. He turned his gaze to the woodland and placed the cauldron under his arm. Where Raimundo's eyes went, his Kimiko's eyes followed, followed by the rest of their companions. There was a large column of smoke billowing up from the forest, much too large to be a normal campfire.

"Xiaolin Warriors; follow me!" Raimundo yelled, sensing great danger.

He led the charge as his friends followed, but it did not take long for Omi to speed ahead. In a clearing was a burning trailer, flames erupting from the open windows. The warriors exchanged looks of shock, fearing the possibility of someone being trapped inside.

"Orb of Tornami; Ice!" yelled Omi, seconds before Raimundo was going to order Kimiko to control the flames.

The flames were stopped, but the trailer was encased in ice formations as Omi sprayed a freezing stream from his blue spherical Shen Gong Wu. It appeared as though the flames themselves had been frozen. Raimundo panicked, scowling at Omi's brash actions but then gazed fearfully at the wreckage, fearing for the potential occupants of the trailer.

He attempted to sprint towards the door, but Clay arrived there first. "Seismic Kick!" yelled the cowboy as he shattered the door to pieces with his almighty boot. The impact seemed to shake the entire area of the woods, causing the ice to shatter like glass.

Raimundo dashed inside, but he found no one except the charred interior of the trailer. The wind warrior walked out slowly, glaring at Clay and Omi.

"Nice going guys…" Raimundo was cut off as an ear piercing explosion rang out, followed in quick succession by several others.

It appeared that mines had been set off around them, circling them with thick smoke. There was silence for a few seconds before the party heard a loud grunt from Clay as a shadowy assailant barged into him, sending the Wudai Warrior of earth tumbling into the smoke.

The attacker quickly faded from view too, just as a second foe took its place. The lithe figure tossed miniature explosives at Kimiko's feet, who performed a dodge roll while hurling her own burning projectiles from the Arrow Sparrow. However, Kimiko was sent flying when Clay was hurled towards her from the shadows, winding the both of them in the process.

Omi commenced battle with a third assailant, allowing Raimundo to have a clear view of the mysterious foe. His eyes widened; the humanoid figure was dressed in black ninja attire, but its head unmistakably belonged to a Jack-Bot.

Raimundo was assaulted seconds later by a fourth Jack-Bot ninja, but Raimundo had predicted that there would be an opponent for him to face. As Raimundo blocked its strikes it quickly became apparent that it was almost mirroring his moves.

"Everyone; swap enemies! They match our moves!" Raimundo yelled.

But no one listened. His fellow teammates were showing signs of tiring while the robots remained in peak physical condition, predicting their opponent's moves. Omi's powerful Shimo Staff was avoided, as was Clay's Big Bang Meteorang. However; one of the many boomerangs that Clay's weapon had split into faulted in its trajectory and struck Raimundo's opponent. The Jack-Bot ninja's head lay at its feet as sparks were flying from its neck.

Raimundo saw his chance and rushed towards Clay's opponent, catching the robot off guard with his Blade of the Nebula. Clay was quick to get the gist of Raimundo's actions, targeting Kimiko's opponent with his Lasso Boa-Boa. He swung the helpless robot like a wrecking ball, shattering Omi's assailant to pieces.

"Jack Spicer's ambush fails yet again!" Omi gloated, surveying the shattered remains of the Jack-Bots. "His machines are as useless as they have always been!"

"No, no, no!" Raimundo growled in disgust. "Can't you see? Master Fung's away! The Temple's unguarded! Everything was a distraction!"

"Calm down, Rai!" Kimiko said.

"Shoku Astro; Wind!" Raimundo clenched his jaw and pointed his palms at the ground. With a burst of energy that almost knocked his friends off their feet, Raimundo shot into the sky. Kimiko crossed her arms as she saw Raimundo disappear into the sky. It was clear she was not impressed with his bossiness.

The rest of the monks were dumbfounded, but Dojo quickly hopped off Clay's hat and enlarged himself so the three friends left behind could ride on him. "How embarrassing, that kid takes off better than me!"

Dojo managed to catch up with the airborne Shoku Warrior, but it looked like Raimundo's powers were failing him. Raimundo gently rested upon the green dragon's back as they continued to fly in the direction of the temple.

* * *

><p>A flash of lightning lit up the dark sky above the Xiaolin Temple. Dojo allowed the four heroes to leap off his back, but Raimundo's legs seemed like noodles. It seemed he was not ready to use his Shoku powers for flight just yet, and the experience had been taxing on his body. The Temple grounds lay before them, eerily silent.<p>

"Jack's here, I know it!" panted Raimundo as he walked into the entrance cautiously.

Followed closely by the rest of the monks, the four of them were nearly knocked off their feet in surprise by a great flash of light. Their initial feelings of panic were soon replaced by puzzlement as it appeared that nothing had occurred after the blaze.

Kimiko could hear someone muttering just out of sight. "I thought you knew the routine! Let's start over!"

The Temple grounds became eerily silent once more, with the monks standing in a fighting stance. After a few seconds, there was an identical bright flash of light, followed by a series of fireworks. In a display of acrobatics, four colourful figures arranged themselves in a formation not unlike performers at a circus. Their entrance was accompanied by loud and kitschy electronic rock number.

"Extensively experienced in wreaking havoc and destruction; Spicer Blue!" proclaimed the largest, extremely rotund stranger, clad head to toe in an ill fitting grey and blue suit of lightweight armour.

"Big time evildoer and crusher of tiny Xiaolin warriors; Spicer Green!" yelled a broad shouldered stranger stood beside the first one, dressed in a green suit of armour that was similar.

A female figure in yellow armour listlessly mirrored the pose of the green clad stranger on the opposite side of the blue clad stranger. "Something, something; Spicer Yellow," she said in a bored tone.

Finally a red armoured figure jumped upon the shoulders of the blue stranger with his arms held high in the air. "Evil boy genius; Spicer Red has arrived!"

The troupe of garish assailants except yellow, now fully assembled, shouted out to the heavens. "The strongest villains in history; Spicer Force Four!"

The Xiaolin Warriors, initially standing dumbfounded, began to chuckle to themselves until it gradually became laughter once they realized who the strangers were. "I thought you'd come up with something better after duping us back there with those ninja robots!" Kimiko exclaimed.

Jack Spicer, the red clad stranger, opened the visor on his helmet to reveal his scowling face. Vlad, dressed in green, did the same. "Why aren't Xiaolin Warriors frightened of well practiced evil acrobatics?" he asked the evil team leader in his thick Russian accent.

"They would've been, if someone had put some effort into their role call!" Jack fumed, pointing an accusing finger at the stranger in yellow. "You're either Spicer Yellow or Ashley, Ashley!"

The woman in yellow, Katnappé, angrily opened her visor and hissed at him. "Let's just ditch the role call!"

The four heroes readied their fighting stances with grins on their faces, feeling good to be battling Jack Spicer. "We were getting most bored with having nothing to do!" yelled Omi. "Thank you for providing amusement for us, just like the old good days!"

The blue villain, Tubbimura, grew weary of Jack standing on his shoulders and slouched in exhaustion, causing the bright red boy genius to fall to the ground. After glaring at his overweight crony, Jack clambered onto his feet with an evil grin on his face. "You're right, Omi, this is providing a lot of amusement!"

Jack Spicer clapped his hands together and waited for a reaction. The ground began to shake as a towering figured loomed in the background, lumbering towards the group. From its abnormal size and the idiotic laughter that filled the air, the monks immediately recognised it was the Cyclops.

Cyclops was wearing a black suit of armour that was similar to the Spicer Force Four, except it was huge enough to fit him. The jolly red giant opened his visor and showed them all a buffoonish grin. Giving the four Xiaolin Warriors a little wave of his hand, Cyclops held out a massive sack that was visibly crammed with Shen Gong Wu raided from the Temple's vault.

Omi's glee turned into anger quickly. "Giant monster, return the Shen Gong Wu to our vault at once, or you shall regret being born with such a large and easy to target backside!"

"I was planning to reveal the fifth member, Spicer Black, in the event that the public may grow bored of seeing just the four of us. Introducing a new member to a team always revitalizes people's interest!" Jack struck a dramatic pose once again. "Consider this a sneak preview!"

Raimundo stepped forward, looking both calm and cunning. He was holding the Zaijian Cauldron in front of him, seemingly offering it to Jack Spicer. Kimiko tried holding Raimundo back, mouthing some words silently to him, telling him not to get cocky. Raimundo did not pay attention to her, letting his arm slide from her hands. The villain looked as confused as Raimundo's comrades. "How about we start up a good old fashioned showdown?" asked the wind warrior.

"Wow, you really want to jump in strait away, like the old times?" asked Jack, looking somewhat elated. The boy genius blinked a couple of times before regaining his wily composure. "I mean, ha-ha! You're in for it now!"

Omi stood ready to wager the Orb of Tornami while Clay held onto the Lasso Boa-Boa. Raimundo, however, realized he held only the currently useless Gills of Hamachi. Glancing back at Kimiko, Raimundo saw that the Wudai Warrior of fire possessed the underwhelming Ants in the Pants.

Too late to turn back, Jack placed his hand on the Zaijian Cauldron with a wicked grin, causing the Shen Gong Wu to radiate a mystical light. "Okay Raimundo; we challenge you four to a Xiaolin Showdown!"

Jack snapped his fingers and Cyclops nodded enthusiastically, tossing Spicer and his henchmen four Shen Gong Wu that appeared more useful than what the Xiaolin side possessed. "We wager the Thorn of Thunderbolt, Reversing Mirror, Shadow Slicer and Silk Spitter against your Orb of Tornami, Lasso Boa-Boa, Ants in the Pants and Gills of Hamachi!" Jack sounded like he was almost about to laugh when he mentioned the water breathing Shen Gong Wu.

Raimundo regained his confidence slightly; the battleground was his very home, the Xiaolin Temple. His familiarity of the place would give him an edge over Spicer's goons. "The game is Xiaolin Hide and Seek! We hide; you count to twenty and seek. Once you find us, you have to throw us out of the place, but we can also throw you out too!"

Omi, Kimiko and Clay ran up to Raimundo while presenting their Shen Gong Wu. Vlad, Tubbimura and Katnappé stood behind Jack, brandishing their items. All eight combatants yelled in unison. "Let's go! Xiaolin Showdown!"

There was a flash of brilliant light and the rumbling of earth. The scenery around them began to twist and turn, even changing shape and colour. The Temple grounds were now completely monochrome, and every angle of architecture became sharp and uninviting. The sky was an unnatural purple, filled with blood red clouds.

The Xiaolin warriors, dressed in their blue showdown outfits, split up while the Spicer Force Four crouched down and covered their eyes. Katnappé muttered that it was embarrassing. Once the four had finished counting to twenty, they sprang to their feet and yelled in unity. "Gong Yi Tanpai!"

Kimiko was crouching on the ceiling beam of one of the many corridors of the temple. Rather than hide in a specific room, the dragon of fire believed she had the edge hiding in such a nondescript location. She sighed quietly and rested her back on the wooden beam, but she froze in horror as she gazed above her.

There was a network of electrical cables she had not seen before, clearly Jack Spicer's handiwork. Attached to the wires did several security cameras resembling evil eyes, their gazes fixed upon her. Kimiko heard a beeping noise growing louder and closer, and footsteps on the wooden floorboards beneath her.

"This is our territory now, little girl!" snapped the distinctive voice of Tubbimura.

Kimiko managed to jump to the next ceiling beam just in time to dodge a stream of web from the Silk Spitter the fat ninja held. Tubbimura was chuckling evilly as Kimiko continued to dodge the streams, inadvertently helping him form a great mass of cobwebs.

Realizing that he was forming a sticky trap for her, Kimiko leapt down to confront the villain head on. The fire warrior used the Ants in the Pants, unleashing a swarm of red ants towards the rotund ninja. Kimiko was ready to see Tubbimura wail in agony from the itching insects, but although he was covered in them, the ants had no effect. It became apparent that his blue suit of armour was practically impervious to the biting insects.

"The game is over for you, Xiaolin warrior!" laughed Tubbimura.

The overweight assailant appeared to disappear, but Kimiko could sense he was travelling at an alarming speed. The ants were scattered by his rapid movements, making Kimiko leap to avoid being the victim of her own Shen Gong Wu. However, Kimiko had leapt so high that she had become ensnared by the webs that Tubbimura had formed earlier.

The ninja appeared once again to encase her in a cocoon of webbing. She quickly found herself in his hands, ready to be thrown out of the Temple like a sticky volleyball. Kimiko knew that the armour had also augmented Tubbimura's strength, allowing him to toss her effortlessly over the walls and into the surrounding woods.

Meanwhile, Clay hid behind one of the many wooden targets used as combat practice in the Temple's obstacle course. The Texan warrior of Earth was alarmed when he suddenly felt cables wrap around his ankles. He looked down at his feet to see that the cables were coming from the circular target itself, producing another set of cables to tie his wrists as well.

The archery target had been some form of Jack-Bot in disguise. It had Clay wrapped tightly against its body, rotating him so the cowboy could see the rest of the obstacle course. The other obstacles were also Jack-Bots in disguise, springing to life maniacally. Vlad was amongst them, chuckling fiendishly.

"Jack has made charming adjustments to the Temple! It is my duty to change the evil light bulbs!"

"Looks like I ought to do a spot of redecorating myself!" growled Clay, flexing his powerful muscles until the Jack-Bot bound to him was torn to pieces.

The earth elemental Wudai Warrior lunged at the Russian brute with a punch, but Vlad appeared to avoid the attack without moving his feet. Clay had to nearly hold onto his hat as he performed a summersault to avoid a lethal ray of lightning from the Thorn of Thunderbolt Vlad held.

"Lasso Boa-Boa!" Clay yelled as he used one of his favourite Shen Gong Wu. He grinned as he saw his opponent make no attempt to avoid getting tied up by the serpentine weapon.

"Have you caught me, or have I caught you?" Vlad asked with a chuckle.

Clay realized that the boulder crushing strength of the lasso was not effective against Vlad's green armour. Vlad twisted himself around, sending Clay flying as he held onto the Shen Gong Wu. Vlad used his augmented speed to use Clay's lasso against him, wrapping the earth dragon up in the blink of an eye.

"Why you no good son…" Clay was catapulted out of the Temple grounds before he could finish his sentence by Vlad's impressive ballet kick.

Outside the Shen Gong Wu vault building, Omi was chuckling to himself, hiding in a plant pot of full of soil complete with a small tree. He was using a hollow reed as a sort of breathing tube. "Raimundo will be most pleased with my ingenuity!" the water dragon thought to himself.

He felt something wriggling inside his robes; something slender and mechanical. The miniature Worm-Bot tried to burrow into Omi's ear, making him shudder and hold back a shrill scream of alarm. Another Worm-Bot tried to crawl down the reed he was using to breathe. Omi immediately yelped and smashed out of the jar explosively, leaving himself wide open to Katnappé. However, Omi blocked her swipe and leapt away from her.

"Let's just get this over with," Katnappé said with a grin. "Seems like your new leader was a little under prepared to start a showdown!"

"I, as Raimundo's left hand man, am fully prepared!" snapped Omi. The water warrior sprang many feet into the air and performed a series of spinning kicks with his arms spread like a pair of wings. "Pelican Surfing Wave!"

Much to Omi's surprise and annoyance, Katnappé gracefully avoided the martial arts technique. "Jack programmed that move into the armour; I know the purr-fect way to avoid it!"

Omi immediately launched into another technique, turning himself into a blur with his Leopard Attack. The feline villainess laughed again and countered with a kick to the chest, winding Omi. The Wudai Warrior recovered from the sharp blow and held the Orb of Tornami out in front of him.

"You may have new knowledge of the martial arts, but only I have knowledge of the Orb of Tornami!" he yelled, spraying a high pressure jet of water from the mystical artefact.

"Reversing Mirror!" Katnappé yelled as she presented the reflective surface of her Shen Gong Wu towards the incoming water blast. Before the jet could strike her it appeared to freeze in midair before moving in the opposite direction, as though reality had been rewound.

Omi was struck with the full force of his own attack. Intending to knock Katnappé out of the Temple grounds, the attack succeeded in pushing Omi into a nearby wall so hard that it shattered against him. Amongst the rubble of the destruction he caused, the dragon of water found he was outside the area.

Shoku Warrior Raimundo could sense his comrades were out of the game. He had been wandering the Temple but found Jack Spicer's 'redecorations' were in every nook and cranny. Finally, Raimundo came to an area with no Jack-Bots or gizmos in sight; the Temple's pond. The wind dragon started feeling grateful for the Gills of Hamachi he held in his hand. He used them to become a fishlike being and silently slipped under the undisturbed water.

Gazing up at the lily pads floating gently above him, Raimundo could clearly see what was going on above the surface of the pond. Surely enough, Raimundo saw Jack Spicer himself. The boy genius was flapping his arms, stepping across the stepping stones that lead to a small pagoda in the centre of the pool. Raimundo thought he would be discovered when he saw the absentminded villain greet a koi carp with a friendly wave, but it seemed he took no notice of the water breathing Xiaolin warrior.

Raimundo saw his chance to get Spicer by surprise. Drawing in air bubbles from the surrounding water, Raimundo formed a blast of air that catapulted him out of the pond. He saw Jack utter a feminine shriek as he removed the Gills of Hamachi in midair before immediately launching a flying kick.

Jack became a red blur as Raimundo sped past him, striking the helpless villain for sure. Raimundo landed effortlessly on the stepping stone closest to the pagoda and turned around, hoping to see Jack flailing in the water. Instead, Raimundo saw that the boy genius had not moved an inch.

"Looking for me?" asked Jack from behind him. Jack had been standing in the pagoda all along, accompanied by Vlad, Tubbimura and Katnappé. Raimundo looked back at the Jack standing on the stepping stone to see it fade away, revealing that it was a Shadow Slicer hologram. The four villains immediately piled on top of him, his Shoku Warrior strength no match for the combined strength of their hi-tech combat armour.

"You thought I'd spend all these weeks we've had off just lazing around?" asked Jack, taking great pleasure in Raimundo's agony. "Guess what? I've been practicing! All those times you and your Xiaolin loser friends kicked my butt let me memorise all the moves you've used against me! I transferred the memory from my bruises to the Spicer Force Four armour!"

The four of them aimed Raimundo towards the sky like a missile and began to rock him backwards and forwards, ready to launch him. With a final push, Raimundo was sent flying into the dark sky, the sound of evil laughter fading behind him as the environment changed back to normal.

* * *

><p>Hours later, Raimundo was wandering in the forest. It had been raining ever since the Xiaolin Showdown had ended, making him feel more miserable with each raindrop that battered him. He could feel the presence of his comrades nearby; an ability that stemmed from his position of Shoku Leader.<p>

A dark mountain loomed in front of him once he came to the end of the forest. From a small cave in the mountainside came the familiar light of a campfire, and the feeling that his friends were sheltering inside. The image triggered old memories in Raimundo's mind; it was the very same cave that they had used to hide themselves and the Shen Gong Wu from Mala Mala Jong and Wuya.

Climbing the side of Mount Hong, Raimundo came into the cave to see Omi and Clay huddled together in front of the fire, soaking wet from the rain. Initially, Raimundo was glad to see they were still in one piece, but his joy quickly turned into irritation.

"Great going, Omi! Thanks for selecting the super useful Shen Gong Wu we had today!" Raimundo snapped sarcastically before his two comrades could even greet him.

"I apologise, leader. Next time I shall let you select what we take from the vault before a mission," Omi said.

"There isn't gonna be a next time! Jack has every stinking one of our Wu! And the temple!" Raimundo grew even more irritated.

"And the pantry," muttered Clay, grasping his growling stomach.

Raimundo snapped at the hungry earth warrior. "If you thought with your head and not with your stomach and listened to my instructions, those robots Jack sent to distract us could've been smashed a lot quicker! We could've stopped Jack from getting all the Wu!"

"If I was the leader, I do not think that I would intentionally start a showdown with a villain who outmatches me," grumbled Omi quietly, hoping Raimundo would not hear him. However, by the way the wind dragon glared at him, it was clear that he had heard. "I said that if I was the leader, we would be in even deeper trouble!" Omi said with a grin, attempting to compliment Raimundo.

"A good leader's supposed to make suggestions, not give orders," Clay added. "But I think we all bought this upon ourselves. Jack Spicer's been practicing and we haven't."

Raimundo noticed that two of their friends were noticeably absent and began to fear the worst. "Have you guys seen Kimiko and Dojo?" He was answered only with a sullen head shaking from both the earth and water warriors.

* * *

><p>"I won!" squealed Jack Spicer, leaping out of the Temple showers with only a towel around his waist.<p>

Once dry he dressed into his long black coat and boots, posing in the mirror. "I won!" he said to his reflection.

Vlad and Tubbimura were playing Rebel Racer Revenge on the widescreen television while Katnappé was allowing her kittens to wander about, shredding any Xiaolin scrolls and robes they could find. Jack was marching around proclaiming his victory over and over again, driving his three henchmen to distraction.

"Did anyone like how I told Raimundo all about how much cooler I am when I got him restrained? Or how my Spicer Force Four armour was essential to us beating him and his friends?" Jack was eager to get feedback. "Well?"

"I have to admit," Katnappé said with a hint of regret, "I wasn't hoping we'd succeed this well. Guess you aren't lame after all." She picked up one of her kittens and petted it lovingly. "I didn't expect that your adjustments to the temple would still be part of the Xiaolin Showdown."

"Evil message boards are already buzzing with activity after I announced our team up and victory," Vlad added.

Tubbimura punched Vlad in the leg, making the Russian villain glare at him. "Mind where you are placing your feet!" snapped the overweight ninja. Vlad was confused; he had been keeping his feet close together.

The ninja felt something slither past his ankles again, but saw that Vlad's feet had not moved. He shrugged his shoulders and resumed gaming; failing to notice that the small pile of Shen Gong Wu next to the television were beginning to shrink, quite literally.

The villains had hoped that their compliments would calm Jack down, but instead his evil boasting became even louder. "I've never had my hands on thus much Wu! We even got the new cauldron before the monks could even try it out!" He began to rub his hands together in anticipation. "First we'll finish redecorating, then we take over China, then I see what happens when I put the Monsoon Sandals on my hands! If they work on legs, they probably work on arms."

Jack paused and glanced at the television, noticing the pile of Shen Gong Wu he had placed there was nowhere in sight. "Okay, which one of you wise guys interfered with my decorations? I had a nice little pile of Wu here! The Changing Chopsticks looked so nice on top of it."

Suddenly, an earthquake rocked the building. The rumbling was followed by the terrified wailing of Cyclops, flailing around madly outside. The four villains inside rushed to witness the gigantic buffoon's commotion, seeing that the power armour he was still wearing was smoking and sending sparks everywhere. What looked like a lightning bolt suddenly leapt off the giant's back, leaving Cyclops dazed.

Before any of them could say something, the Spicer Force Four heard alarms and what sounded like fireworks setting off all around the Temple. Jack's machines that he had used to make the Temple his own were going up in flames, and the same lightning bolt that had hopped off Cyclops's back was now leaping from each machine to the next.

"My refurbishments!" screamed Jack, running to assess the damage.

His fellow cronies joined him too, eventually coming across the remains of their suits of power armour. "And it was in the perfect size, too…" Tubbimura mumbled sadly, holding up his charred blue costume.

* * *

><p>Back on Mount Hong, the three remaining Xiaolin warriors were greeted by the arrival of a lightning bolt outside the mouth of the cave. There stood Kimiko with Dojo wrapped around her neck like a boa; both smiling at their comrades. Raimundo immediately ran to embrace her, but before he could, Kimiko held out a turquoise rabbit shaped Shen Gong Wu.<p>

"When Omi fetched the Wu for us to take on the mission, he didn't just take the wrong Wu for the job, but also the wrong number! I decided to keep the Denshi Bunny a secret, since I guessed that Jack's new super suits could be fried with a little electricity!"

Dojo leapt off the fire warrior's shoulders and pulled several tiny objects out of his ear. "I managed to get a few Wu back, too!" the green dragon said as he used the Changing Chopsticks to return the objects to their original size. Amongst them was the Shen Gong Wu that they had wagered in the showdown, as well as a few more useful ones.

"But how are we gonna go back to the Temple now that Spicer's ruling the roost?" questioned Clay as he picked up the Lasso Boa-Boa and the Longhorn Taurus.

"I fried his contraptions, too! I think I enjoyed it more than hacking," Kimiko answered with glee.

Raimundo grinned and stood at the mouth of the cave, overlooking the Temple in the distance. The rains had stopped; signalling that luck was in their favour.

"Move, move, move it!" Jack Spicer yelled, sitting inside the Tunnel Armadillo. Cyclops, battered and bruised from his malfunctioning armour, was loading some of his master's belongings into a cart pulled by the Crouching Cougar. "They're gonna be here any second! The Temple's theirs now!"

Before Tubbimura, Vlad and Katnappé could start loading the Shen Gong Wu into the cart, Kimiko made an explosive entrance with the Arrow Sparrow. Startled by the explosions, Tubbimura was tripped up by Clay's Lasso Boa-Boa before being tossed aside and over the cowboy's shoulder. With no armour to augment their strength, the villains were back to being as laughably underwhelming as they once were.

Vlad began to charge, but was sent tumbling by a massive surge of water from Omi's Orb of Tornami. Cyclops, towering over Raimundo and Kimiko, was blown away by the wind warrior's Blade of the Nebula and the fire warrior's Sword of the Storm.

Jack in the Tunnel Armadillo and Katnappé on the Crouching Cougar gazed back in desperation at the regrouped Xiaolin dragons. "We're back, Jack Spicer, and stronger than ever!" Omi yelled with pride, approaching the pile of Shen Gong Wu.

Spicer's anxious look turned into a sly expression as he held out a magnet shaped object. "Glove of Jisaku!"

The pile of Shen Gong Wu began to move towards the boy genius. Kimiko held the Lotus Twister aloft and called out its name, turning her arms into stretchable rubber limbs. Her arms wrapped around the pile, but a few of the objects seemed to leap through the air, escaping her grasp and landing in Jack's cockpit. The Zaijian Cauldron landed on his head, adorning it like a hard hat.

"See ya later!" he said with a sneer, making the Tunnel Armadillo quickly burrow underground. Katnappé hissed and disappeared into the forest on the Crouching Cougar, pulling Spicer's junk behind her. Lastly, the Shen-Ga-Roo hopped by, carrying a laughing Tubbimura and Vlad in its pouch and a wailing Cyclops on its back.

Omi was about to run after them, but was stopped in his tracks by the Shoku leader. "Let them go, we still have the most Wu. As long as Spicer has some, he's gonna want to come after more. That's when we can beat him."

* * *

><p>Later that day, Master Fung returned to the Xiaolin Temple grounds. Luckily, Raimundo had ensured that he and his teammates had cleaned away the last traces of Jack Spicer's interference. Aside from the fact that the vault was missing some Shen Gong Wu, it seemed that nothing had changed since the wise old master had left.<p>

Master Fung had gathered all four monks into the main hall. The heroes had expected him to say something about his visit to Master Monk Guan's Temple, but their mentor had said nothing about it. However, the four of them had a strange feeling about standing in the main hall again. The last time they stood in it, Raimundo had been elevated to his current status of team leader.

"Raimundo has told me about your ordeal today, Xiaolin dragons," Fung said calmly. "Since you have expanded your knowledge and abilities, the forces of evil will do the same. Such is the balance of nature."

Their Master turned to Kimiko, much to her surprise. "Raimundo told me about your impressive accomplishment at defending the Temple, Kimiko. Your ingenuity today has caused me to look back at some of your earlier accomplishments as well." Master Fung smiled warmly. "It was not long ago that you defeated the malicious Sibini, sealing him away for good whilst learning from your mistakes. Your love for your friends and family allowed you to save your father's corporation from Pandabubba. Your ingenuity allowed you to defeat not only Chase Young, but also Hannibal Roy Bean in a Xiaolin Showdown by tricking them into fighting each other."

Kimiko's heart was warmed by the compliments she was receiving, but she did not understand why Master Fung was telling her this. She then saw a glimmering light from below her line of sight; it was coming from her sash. Its turquoise colour was changing into shimmering gold fabric, much like Raimundo's sash.

"You mean…" she gasped, too flustered to finish her sentence.

"You're a Shoku Warrior now, Kimiko," Raimundo said softly. She ran into his arms, squeezing the wind out of his lungs with a surprisingly tight hug.

Clay joined in with the hugging while Raimundo tried to stay smiling as his face turned purple. Omi, however, stood a few feet away from the group. The smallest monk was happy, but it seemed like he was also somewhat ill at ease. It took a little nod from Raimundo to get Omi joining in with the group hug.

After congratulating the new Shoku Warrior of fire, Master Fung spoke to the group once more. "From now on, it is Raimundo's duties as leader to report to me on your progress and encourage you to grow stronger. There will be a time when the four of you will all be Shoku Warriors, and when that time comes I will explain the next part of your quest as Xiaolin dragons."

"Oh dear," mumbled Dojo. "You're gonna make them explode with excitement if you keep things cryptic like that."

Omi was definitely excited, but also focussed. He would need to find the right opportunity to outshine his comrades and become the next Shoku Warrior.


	2. The Majutsu Wand

The stampede of wildebeest thundered through the savannah without cease, pursued by a horde of Jack-Bots. The fast flying robots continued to fire their laser beams up into the sky; the sound of their gunfire was forcing the frightened animals to continue running.

Jack Spicer, carried by the bounding Shen-Ga-Roo, was pursuing the stampede. "Once they get to the river, they'll have to slow down! Then we can grab the Wu!" Tubbimura was in the magical vehicle's pouch as well, watching the skies for something.

"Xiaolin Dragons at lunchtime!" yelled Tubbimura, pointing frantically in the air.

Jack couldn't understand what his accomplice was saying at first. "You mean 'at twelve o' clock', right?"

The Shen-Ga-Roo was almost toppled over by Dojo, flying towards the villains head on. The vehicle was hopping on one foot for a few seconds before adjusting its balance. Jack was flailing his arms for a moment before he resumed a tight grip on the Shen-Ga-Roo's steering wheel. He could just about hear the dragon remark how he liked to 'spook the dumb kid'.

In order to get a good look at the situation, Kimiko got to her feet and walked across Dojo's back until she was standing on his head. She knelt and held the Falcon's Eye up to her face, using it as a telescope. The newly appointed Shoku Warrior saw that one of the wildebeest towards the front of the stampede had a chain around one of its horns, with a golden compass Shen Gong Wu attached.

"The Compass of Yujo's towards the front of the herd! Think you can fly fast enough to get to it, Dojo?" Kimiko asked.

Dojo turned abruptly to avoid laser fire from the Jack-Bots. "This is as fast as I can go under this much pressure!"

Raimundo was about to leap off and use his wind powers, but Omi sprang into action before he could. "Fear not, my two Shoku Warrior companions! I shall prove my worth by capturing the Compass of Yujo myself!"

Omi ran towards Dojo's head to join Kimiko while Clay and Raimundo fended off Jack-Bots with the Big Bang Meteorang and the Blade of the Nebula. Omi produced the Cannon Blaster from his robes and placed it on the end of Dojo's snout. The dragon covered his ears as the Wudai Warrior of water leapt into the magical cannon, launching himself forwards with a loud bang.

Transforming from a cannonball and back into his regular self in midair, Omi used the Tongue of Saiping to tell the herd of wildebeest to slow down. He assured the animals that they would come under no harm as long as he could retrieve the compass in time.

Omi's teammates were annoyed at how he had charged ahead at first without any discussion, but after seeing how well he had succeeded, the other Xiaolin Dragons cheered him on. Omi leapt across the wildebeest, now slowing down slightly, even as the battle raged on overhead. The eager warrior removed the Compass of Yujo from the horns of the wildebeest and held it up high for his teammates to see.

"You win some, you lose some," mumbled Jack as he turned the Shen-Ga-Roo in the opposite direction. Losing a Shen Gong Wu was not so bad for him now that he possessed a sizable number himself.

* * *

><p>The monks were shortly back home at the Xiaolin temple, placing their Shen Gong Wu in their correct drawers in the vault, including the new Compass. The warriors were still talking about Omi's efforts, which made the young water Dragon feel very proud.<p>

"That was some mighty fine cannoneering back there!" Clay said. "Pretty risky though, since we've hardly touched the Cannon Blaster since we got it."

Omi nudged Raimundo in the leg as they walked away from the vault to get some rest. "Did you find my efforts particularly worthy, leader Raimundo?" Omi asked cockily.

Raimundo smirked. "It was pretty cool, Omi, but we would've done that if we were in that situation too. Remember that discussion we had about stampeding animals with Shen Gong Wu we had a while back?"

Omi remembered clearly and frowned. In their discussion it had been Kimiko that had thought about using the Cannon Blaster and then the Tongue of Saiping. "Our discussion had been about a stampede of zebras though," Kimiko explained. Night had fallen quickly and Kimiko had to stop herself from yawning.

Raimundo patted Omi on the shoulder. "It was really impressive though. But I think you'd have to do something really unexpected to become a Shoku warrior, Omi."

Omi lagged behind for a bit, thinking about Raimundo's words. He looked back on how he had claimed the Compass all by himself. Raimundo, Clay and Kimiko carried on walking to their sleeping quarters.

"Get plenty of sleep, kids!" Dojo called out. "I feel like the next Shen Gong Wu can pop up at any minute. I have a hunch that their activations will be much more frequent now!"

Omi watched Dojo slink into the kitchen for a snack, which would be a whole meal in human terms. The water monk was suddenly struck with an uncharacteristically fiendish idea, following the dragon into the kitchen quietly.

Later that night, while the other three warriors were asleep, Omi remained awake. As his tiger instincts had predicted, Dojo came rushing into the sleeping quarters a few hours later, about to announce another Shen Gong Wu that had become active. To the little reptile's surprise, Omi's hand reached out and firmly held Dojo's jaws shut.

"As Clay would say, it is best to keep your trap firmly closed," Omi whispered.

Dojo made a few muffled noises and grabbed hold of Omi's hand. When Omi released his grip, Dojo spoke in a hushed voice. "What's the big idea? You know how these Shen Gong Wu rashes just make me want to squeal! If only you knew how I felt!"

"You must understand, Dojo," Omi hissed. "It would be rude to awaken our two Shoku warriors. At their greater level of proficiency they require all the sleep they can get."

"Six hours is enough sleep!" mumbled Dojo. "I'm going to ring the wake-up gong!"

Dojo suddenly froze in place as a tremendous groan sounded from his stomach. As he clenched his gurgling belly with his hands, the dragon knew that his discomfort was not a symptom of his Shen Gong Wu senses acting up.

"As you made your supper snack, I added a most unpleasant concoction while you had your back turned!" Omi muttered, staring into the quivering dragon's eyes. "I happen to have another concoction that works as an antidote to your discomfort. If you aide me, Dojo, I promise you that I shall spoon over the remedy!"

"Okay," whimpered Dojo, his aching becoming unbearable. "Tell me your big plan before I pop!"

"Raimundo's wise Shoku words of wisdom gave me a magnificent idea! I shall claim a new Shen Gong Wu as they sleep, on my own!" Omi's eyes seemed to sparkle with anticipation. "In the morning they will be in for a pleasant surprise! Raimundo and Kimiko, moved by my courage, will persuade Master Fung to make me the third to advance to Shoku Warrior level!"

"Extra credit, eh?" asked Dojo. "Do you think Clay should have a chance to shine too?"

Omi and Dojo paused briefly to look at the slumbering Xiaolin warrior of earth. The cowboy was evidently in the middle of a dream. "Is that teriyaki pork? Hmm…" he mumbled, smiling dopily. "Tastes just like…Granny Lily?!" Clay's face suddenly became a look of discomfort as his dream turned into a nightmare.

"Perhaps it isn't safe to wake him up right now," mumbled Dojo, continuing to watch Clay's struggling. "Just hand me that remedy already, or else this Temple's going to experience a real nightmare!" Dojo's stomach was louder than ever.

"We shall get going!" Omi announced quietly. "After we reach the Shen Gong Wu, I will hand you the antidote!"

Dojo immediately slithered into the Temple courtyard at a speed Omi thought the little dragon was incapable of. Dojo grew to his full size in milliseconds, twitching eagerly. Gathering up a pile of Shen Gong Wu he had kept ready at his side, Omi leapt onto the dragon's back and held on tight as he soared into the night sky.

After a few minutes in the air, Dojo's stomach had calmed down considerably. "Hold on a minute, I'm suddenly feeling a whole lot better! What gives?"

Omi chuckled softly. "I never added anything to your food. You eat far too quickly and unhealthily! It was natural that you would experience such stomach pains!"

Dojo mumbled angrily to himself. "It's too late to go back and wake up the others now! Let's just get this over with and head home as soon as we can."

"Perhaps if you temporarily switched to a vegetarian diet like mine, you would…" Omi suddenly held back a yawn. "Never mind; I am sure Jack Spicer will provide enough challenge for my promotion."

* * *

><p>The boy and the dragon landed in a grey rock valley, dimly illuminated by the approaching dawn. The area was abundant in table landforms, some so narrow that they resembled slender towers. When Omi hopped off of Dojo's back as he shrank, the Xiaolin monk could not help staring at the gradually rising sun.<p>

"There it is!" Dojo said, jumping onto Omi's shoulder to make him snap out of his stupor. "The Majutsu Wand!"

Dojo pointed towards the towering butte they were facing. Embedded in the vertical rock face was a black rod shaped item, topped by golden crown with a large blue crystal in the centre. "What does it do?" Omi questioned.

"The Majutsu Wand was Dashi's attempt at making artworks a little more interactive! One zap can bring a painted character or a statue to life, but it has a notoriously long cool down period," Dojo replied as Omi prepared to leap upwards. "Soon he forgot the whole idea and decided to just admire the paintings as they were."

Omi sprang into the air and managed to find nooks and crannies in the rock face for his hands and feet. He crawled up towards the Majutsu Wand like a spider, carefully calculating where he could hang without falling.

Just as he was about to reach for another handhold, Omi heard an ominous whizzing in the air. He leapt to a tiny ledge just below his former position just as a missile struck it, scattering chunks of rock and leaving a sizable crater.

Looking over his shoulder, Omi saw Jack Spicer hovering with the help of his trademark heli-bot. Accompanied by a fleet of Jack-Bots, each with a missile launcher mounted to their chest, the self proclaimed evil genius was grinning fiendishly.

"Two Wu activated in a day. Guess your friends were too tired to come out and play for a second time!" Jack said with a sneer.

"Jack Spicer!" Omi yelled, almost yawning again. "Once again I will effortlessly claim another Shen Gong Wu!"

Jack did not stay to make a snarky comeback. His heli-bot carried him upwards at full speed towards the Majutsu Wand. Dodging more fire from the formidable Jack-Bots, Omi activated the powers of the Lotus Twister to turn his arms into rubber bands.

Like a slingshot, Omi used his elasticity to launch himself upwards. Losing momentum, Omi deftly used the missiles fired towards him as stepping stones, carrying him to the Shen Gong Wu. Predictably, Omi found his hand touching the wand at exactly the same time as Jack Spicer's. The mystic item began to glow with reality warping energy.

"A showdown at sunrise! If I had bought some camera-bots, this would've made a great picture!" Jack exclaimed.

"The game is tilting towers; last person standing is the victor!" Omi readied himself, but for a split second his eyelids felt heavy. "I shall wager the Tangle Web Comb!"

"I'll wager my Monsoon Sandals! Just hold on a second…" Jack gingerly removed his feet from his boots and stepped into the mystic foot wear. The villain's tedious actions were making Omi feel even sleepier. "I think there's a stone inside one of them!"

Before the whining boy genius could get ready, Omi raised his voice. "Let's go! Xiaolin Showdown!"

The two combatants were enveloped in a bright light emitted by the Majutsu Wand. When the light faded, Omi and Jack found themselves standing on two separate stone towers that were a great distance apart from each other. All around them were similar stone towers, but they were all too far apart to allow the two competitors to jump between them. Beneath them was a foreboding white abyss, stretching hundreds of metres.

"Gong Yi Tanpai!"

Omi felt the stone tower quaking beneath him until it began to tilt forwards, cracking loudly. Omi clung to his tower as it fell, jumping off at the right time when it was close enough to another tower. The remnants of his former location crumbled into the nothingness below.

Jack laughed and used the power of the Monsoon Sandals, extending his legs to ridiculous lengths. He stepped from tower to tower almost effortlessly, each one crumbling down as he left them behind. The number of platforms in the showdown space was gradually diminishing as the contestants moved about, unable to stand on each tower for too long.

"Ouchie!" whined Jack, "I knew it!"

Towering above the playing field on his long legs, Jack took the time to precariously balance on one foot. He took off the sandal that was causing discomfort and took out a tiny stone, but the leg he removed it from shrank to its original length. Jack squealed as he lost his balance, but luckily for him, the villainous redhead landed on his backside on another tower.

Omi saw that Jack was toppling the towers at an alarming pace, destroying a greater number than Omi had. The Wudai Warrior was caught by surprise as Jack's long leg extended horizontally towards him, attempting to kick him off his platform. Omi dodged by leaping upwards, but found that Jack had knocked down his former tower.

Luckily for Omi, the young monk managed to grab onto Jack's leg. The villain squealed angrily, telling Omi to get off. Jack thrashed around wildly, but this only triggered the toppling of his tower. Jack hastily leapt to another tower when he came close to one, while Omi found a suitable platform for himself.

As Jack continued to strut from platform to platform, Omi aimed his Tangle Web Comb. Planning to tie up Jack's long legs, Omi envisioned the boy genius hilariously falling to his doom. However, as Omi called out his Shen Gong Wu's name, he paused momentarily for a tiny yawn.

As the sticky webs shot forth from the teeth of the Tangle Web Comb, Omi's concentration wavered momentarily as his head nodded. To his horror, Omi saw the strands bend backwards towards him. The Tangle Web Comb required maximum focus from the user, and Omi's fatigued state lead to his downfall. The water monk was wrapped up by his own weapon, tumbling helplessly as his tower fell.

There was a flash of light. Omi felt like he had actually been asleep for a few seconds, opening his eyes to see Jack Spicer's feet. As his eyes met with Jack's, Omi saw the Tangle Web Comb, Monsoon Sandals and Majutsu Wand in his arms.

"And that's a _wrap_! Get it?" Jack yelled with glee. Omi was about to speak, but he almost yawned again, much to his embarrassment. "Oh! Are you a little tongue _tied_?" Jack slapped his thigh loudly. "I'm on a roll here! Can't wait to boast about my victory on the world wide-"

"We get it Jack. Forced jokes aren't funny," said Dojo, preventing the boasting villain from making another cringe worthy pun.

"Yeah, you're right," mumbled Jack, flying away with his swarm of robots.

Eventually, Dojo flew back in the direction of the Xiaolin Temple with Omi clinging loosely to his back. The little monk kept almost falling asleep, but Dojo's undulations prevented him. "Look on the bright side; Jack Spicer doesn't strike me as the kind of person interested in art! He'll grow bored of the wand in no time."

Dojo's words failed to cheer Omi up. "Raimundo will be most disappointed. He may even request Master Fung to knock me back down to Xiaolin Apprentice level!"

"If we get back to Temple before anyone wakes up, it'll be like we never left!" Dojo added.

* * *

><p>Jack Spicer had already returned to his evil lair, but despite his victory, the villainous redhead was not pleased. He twirled the Majutsu Wand in his fingers, dropping it on the floor multiple times in the process. Without anyone who had any expertise on the Shen Gong Wu, the evil genius had no idea what the wand did and how he could use it to his advantage.<p>

Jack began to tap a wall repeatedly with the mystical object, followed by a piece of metal from a broken Jack-Bot and a couple of glass beakers. The ceaseless noise was getting on Katnappé's nerves, and when Jack began to accompany it by blowing raspberries, the lady thief decided she had had enough.

"That tears it!" she screeched, slamming her cat themed laptop shut. "I'm done with trying to search for information on stupid magic wands!"

"But you're the only one of us with a decent enough attention span to do that!" whined Jack.

"Tough luck," she mumbled, walking to the exit.

Jack sat on the floor with his arms crossed, scowling into space. A few seconds later he angrily pulled out a cardboard box, full to the brim with comic books. He took one from the top and lied down on his stomach, wriggling his feet in the air behind him.

As she left the room, Katnappé turned off the main lights, leaving Jack in dim illumination. Jack demanded that he wanted the lights back on immediately, but Katnappé had already left. Jack noticed that the Majutsu Wand's blue crystal was glowing faintly, but he also noticed a tiny button on it that was lit up slightly too.

"Maybe it's just some dumb magic flashlight," he said to himself, pointing the wand at his comic book and pressing the button with his thumb.

He shrieked in surprise as a beam of light shot out of the Shen Gong Wu, illuminating a panel of the comic book. Jack bit his lip as he saw a glowing shape rise from the page, solidifying into a corporeal form. Stood in front of him was a tiny superhero, dressed in a silver suit and cape. The miniature man had been brought to life from the panel on which he had been drawn and was now glancing all around the lair.

"Which deadly dimension has that dastardly Perplexo imprisoned me in now?" the superhero thought aloud. Evidently, the living drawing was still in character.

Jack's eyes widened. "I've done it! Every evil genius's dream! I've created life!"

At those words, the tiny superhero turned and faced the boy genius, readying his ray gun. "Prepare to be atomized, titan of terror!"

The hero fired his lasers at Jack's nose, but the villain did not feel a thing and only remarked how precious the tiny man was. Jack lifted the struggling superhero by his cape and placed him inside a hamster cage. He then attempted to use the Majutsu Wand again, this time on a picture of an alien beast in the comic, but the Shen Gong Wu refused to work.

"Stupid thing needs to recharge!" Jack muttered. But soon his disappointment turned into glee. "But when it's done, I think I'll try using it on something a little bigger..."

* * *

><p>Back at the Temple, the sun had not fully risen, and the three other Xiaolin warriors were still slumbering. As Omi wearily lumbered to his sleeping quarters, he saw that his pillow looked extremely inviting. However, as soon as he laid his head down, peace was shattered by the buzz of an alarm clock.<p>

"Rise and shine everyone!" yelled a fully recharged Raimundo.

The warriors of wind, fire and earth rose to their feet and began to perform their morning stretches, but the warrior of water opened his bloodshot eyes with a loud groan. At breakfast, Omi tried hard to prevent himself from falling face first into his bowl.

"I don't know anyone else who gets a craving for teriyaki pork in the morning," muttered Kimiko, glancing at Clay's strange breakfast choice.

"Just wanted to check if it wasn't...spoiled," Clay said after finishing the plate in moments. "Hey Raimundo, tell everyone what you've got planned today!"

Raimundo chuckled and placed a piece of paper in the centre of the dining table. "There's a drive-in theatre showing all the old movies I liked to watch as a little kid!" Clay and Dojo seemed interested, but Kimiko raised an eyebrow and Omi stared sleepily into space.

"Oh how wonderful!" Dojo said with a sigh. "Master Fung and I went to a drive-in cinema a few weeks after we first met!"

"So romantic," Raimundo whispered with a chuckle. Dojo had heard what he had said and was glaring at him.

"I don't know," Kimiko said, "It's nice you want to go on a fun trip, but couldn't we go somewhere more interesting?"

"Aw c'mon Kimiko!" Raimundo groaned. "They're showing The Terror from Uranus!"

Kimiko seemed to perk up at the mention of the cheesy movie. "Hey! My dad knows the guy who was in the monster suit! His son plays a lot of monsters in Japanese TV shows today."

Soon the Xiaolin Dragons were ready to climb onto Dojo's back, but Kimiko noticed that Omi seemed dreadfully tired. "Did you not have a good sleep last night, Omi? Maybe you should stay at the Temple and have a longer snooze."

Omi smiled wearily. "A most excellent idea, Shoku Warrior Kimiko! Perhaps save some popped corn for me."

* * *

><p>After soaring through the sky, Dojo landed amongst the parked cars in front of the outdoor movie screen. He remained enlarged while the three Xiaolin warriors sat upon his head. The drive-in theatre had been built in a vacant downtown parking lot, attempting to recreate the charm of the drive-ins of old.<p>

"Back in the old days, folks were a little more awestruck by mystic dragons coming into their theatres," Dojo mumbled, looking around at the numerous people who had their eyes glued to the silver screen.

The dragon winced as he felt Clay walking up his tail, noticeably heavier from the huge pile of food from the concession stand he was carrying. "Sure was nice of them to play that little song reminding us about the snacks," he said.

When Clay finished sharing out the food, the four of them began to enjoy the poor dubbing and low budget special effects of 'The Terror from Uranus'. Raimundo remarked that he wished winning Shen Gong Wu was as easy as shouting 'reverse the polarity'; a phrase the characters in the film seemed to yell whenever they got into a sticky situation.

The Xiaolin heroes had neglected to notice that amongst the parked cars, Jack Spicer sat in the Tunnel Armadillo. Eventually, the titular Terror from Uranus appeared on screen, eliciting a great cheer from the audience and a great big evil grin on the boy genius's face.

"Normally I find watching movies by myself boring, but today's an exception to that rule," he chuckled, aiming the Majutsu Wand at the screen and pressing its activation button.

The magical beam illuminated the image of the rubbery monster. Resembling a humanoid lobster crossed with an octopus, the Terror of Uranus stepped off the screen as though it was climbing through a window. The black and white monster stood still, gazing dumbfounded at the numerous cars in front of it.

"Ugh," Raimundo grunted in disgust, "Why does every film have to be 3D these days?" He stood up and shouted in the direction of the film projector. "You're ruining the authenticity, guys!"

The wind warrior's anger subsided when he saw the staff members clambering out of the projection booth, fleeing for their lives. The people at the snack bar were doing the same, wailing in terror. Raimundo looked back at the monster just in time to see it kick several cars aside as though they were toys; their occupants evacuating just at the right moment.

"I reckon this is literal movie magic at work!" Clay exclaimed, jumping off Dojo with Kimiko and assuming a fighting stance.

"This is strangely embarrassing," Dojo said, noticing the theatre was now completely empty except for the four of them. "People are more scared of that overgrown rubber suit guy than they are of me?"

Nevertheless, Dojo shrank down to his usual diminutive size and hid under Clay's hat. The alien monster's lobster claw swung down at the three Xiaolin dragons, which all effortlessly leapt out of the way. The giant monster's movements were slow and clumsy, just like in the film.

"Mikado Arm!" Raimundo yelled, activating the power of the Shen Gong Wu to endow his arms with bulging muscles.

The Shoku Warrior of wind leapt forward and began to pummel the monster's feet with a barrage of super strong punches. He attempted to topple the space creature with his tremendous strength, but found himself kicked away like a soccer ball.

"Cannon Blaster!" Evoking the weapon's name, Clay fired himself at the creature's chest, but only bounced off of it and reduced several cards to scrap metal as he crash landed.

Kimiko placed her special elemental Shen Gong Wu to her arm and readied her Wudai weapon. "Cats Eye Draco! Arrow Sparrow!"

The combined power of the two magical items unleashed a blast in the shape of an enormous fire bird. The Shoku Warrior of fire anticipated that the monster would be reduced to ash, but was alarmed when the Terror from Uranus merely roared in anger as the phoenix dissolved into smoke against its body.

"This varmint's immune to a full powered Wudai weapon?" Clay asked, wearily getting up from the wreckage he had caused.

"And Shoku Warrior strength!" added Kimiko as Raimundo resumed his position next to her, deactivating the power of the Mikado Arm.

Raimundo was far from crestfallen; it seemed that the Xiaolin leader had a plan in mind. "Not even the army can defeat the Terror from Uranus, but there is one thing that can!"

To his comrade's surprise, Raimundo activated the power of the Moby Morpher Shen Gong Wu. The strange item twisted and warped his body into an entirely new species; a rough collie dog. The canine Raimundo began to bark at the towering monster, and to Clay and Kimiko's amazement, the creature began to make its retreat.

The Terror from Uranus clambered back inside the silver screen and faded from sight, replaced by an image of deep space. The hammy narrator of the film announced that in the end, man's best friend had proven to be humanity's greatest ally, driving the monster back into the depths of space. A big and bold 'the end' appeared in the centre of the screen, just before the credits began to roll.

"Good thinking, Lassie," Clay laughed as Raimundo reverted back to his original shape.

Jack Spicer was understandably furious, standing up in the Tunnel Armadillo. "Darn it! Just when it looks like the bad guy's going to win, the writers come up with some stupid solution in the last minute!"

The Xiaolin warriors took notice of Jack's exclamation and turned to face him, noticing he was holding the Majutsu Wand; a Shen Gong Wu that they had not seen before. Jack hurriedly resumed control of the mystical tunnelling machine, digging deep into the earth before the heroes could pursue him.

"I knew that magic was involved!" Clay said. "Seems like Spicer had his dirty hands on a new Wu!"

"A Wu that can bring movie monsters to life," Raimundo thought aloud, "How come I don't remember something like that being activated?"

Dojo sheepishly came out from under Clay's hat. "There was a new Wu that activated while you guys were asleep. Omi was the only one up!"

Clay grabbed hold of Dojo and held him up to his face. "Then why didn't you wake us then? What was going through your minds when you two went after a Shen Gong Wu alone?"

Dojo squealed. "I couldn't help it! The kid fed me false information, almost literally! We thought Jack wouldn't be interested in a Wu that could bring artworks to life, but it seems that the power works on artistic media that didn't exist fifteen hundred years ago!"

"I think we better get back home and have a little talk with Omi," said Kimiko.

* * *

><p>Jack Spicer was back at his basement lair, but this time he had assembled his lackeys Tubbimura and Vlad, as well as Katnappé. They were seated on four folding chairs; Tubbimura occupied two. With the tripod projector screen in front of them, Katnappé thought they were going to watch another one of Jack's tedious slideshows.<p>

"This better not be the one about the 'cool crab' you found on the beach that one time," the bored thief said with a sigh.

"This is something entirely different!" Jack said with a hint of anticipation in his voice. "And you _know_ that crab was awesome. He was like a crusty little pirate!"

A Jack-Bot with a film projector mounted on its chest hovered into the room. Another Jack-Bot arrived, holding a comic book in its claws. After turning to a certain page, the robot handed the comic to the projector and a panel was projected onto the screen. The image was of a formidable looking villainous character. He wore a mask and horned helmet that made him look like some sort of gargoyle, as well as purple armour and a matching cape.

"Meet Lord Devastatron; emperor of the Demon Nebula!" Jack announced.

"I can read his word balloon, Jack," Katnappé said with a sigh.

Jack ignored her comment and continued to explain his plan. "When the wand brings a character to life, that character acts exactly as they did in whatever comic or movie they came from! That unfortunately includes whatever weaknesses they had." Jack paced for a moment before suddenly tapping the image with his pointing stick. "Devastatron here has no weaknesses! The comic he appeared in was never concluded, so the heroes never found a way to beat him!"

Tubbimura sheepishly raised his hand. "Are you sure it is a good idea to bring such a formidable fiend to life?"

"Tubby has good point," added Vlad. "The emperor of Demon Nebula' sounds like a scarier title than 'ninja henchman', 'cat burglar', 'boy genius' and 'vendor'."

"Yeah, I know!" Jack exclaimed, vibrating with excitement. "He's much more powerful than we are! He'll make the ultimate lackey!"

His comrades cringed and cowered in unison as he pointed the Majutsu Wand towards the projector screen. Devastatron strode out of the image, standing well over seven feet tall beside Jack. The otherworldly villain gazed at the peons who had summoned him into their world.

"Lord Devastatron; it is a pleasure to have you working with us today!" Jack was cheerful while his henchmen seemed ready to jump out of their seats and vacate the premises.

At that moment, the tiny superhero that Jack had locked in the hamster cage a few hours ago managed to break free. The silver suited man ran up to Devastatron as fast as his miniature legs could and pointed a finger at the towering villain, striking a heroic pose.

"The cosmos will soon be free of your evil wrath, titans of terror!" These were the hero's last words before Devastatron's mighty boot came down upon him, accompanied by a tiny 'poot' sound.

Jack Spicer gulped audibly. "Wow, it's a nice surprise to see you're more ruthless than I imagined!" He looked back at his teammates to see they had fled. Before he could turn around, Devastatron approached Jack with a deep evil chuckle as the lone boy genius stood cowering in fear.

* * *

><p>Back at the Xiaolin Temple, Omi faced the gazes of his three disappointed teammates. "I thought you would be proud of me, leader Raimundo," Omi mumbled with a frown. "I thought I was only trying to save you the hassle of retrieving the Majutsu Wand."<p>

"But really you were just trying to score extra credit," interjected a stern Clay.

Raimundo knelt and placed his hand on the water warrior's shoulder. "You were pretty brave, honestly. It wasn't too different to something I would've done when we first became dragons in training. But we're a team, Omi. When the time comes, you'll be rewarded for thinking about the wellbeing of your teammates instead of your own promotion."

"But I think about you all the time!" whined Omi. "I do the chores for all three of you!"

"It comes across like you're trying to outshine us in front of Master Fung," Kimiko added.

Omi did not want to accept it, but it was true. The young monk silently hung his head for a while as the attention of his comrades shifted to Dojo's spasms. "Kiss and make up later! These Shen Gong Wu are beginning to pop up faster than acne on a fry cook's forehead!"

"At least Jack Spicer is only using the wand to wish villains to life," said Raimundo. "The villains it creates have the same weaknesses they do in the movies they came from!"

"And villains always lose!" Omi added, cheering up at a second chance to retrieve a Shen Gong Wu with his friends.

* * *

><p>It was not long before they were excitedly soaring towards a bustling city, with Dojo eyeing the skyline for the location his senses were taking him. "The Memo Emerald isn't a very big Shen Gong Wu at all. It creates an interactive recording of yourself to remind you of stuff, sort of like a sticky note you can have an argument with."<p>

The green dragon suddenly yelped as he saw a startling sight on the horizon; Devastatron was gliding towards him. The comic book villain had sprouted devil wings and was followed by an angry red thundercloud. Jack Spicer's face was being grasped in the evildoer's mighty hand, his body dangling uselessly as his cheeks turned bright purple.

Raimundo was quick to spot the strange sight as well. "Uh oh, that's Devastatron!" He mumbled.

"Who?" asked Clay. "Is he one of those comic book bad guys?"

"Yeah, but this dude's different to most. He was created especially to get rid of some superheroes the writer didn't like. The writer suddenly decided he didn't like comic book readers and decided to give his comic an unresolved cliff hanger ending just to make them sad," Raimundo explained. "Some writers are weird like that."

"So this guy was made unbeatable, and the writer never included any weaknesses for the heroes to exploit?" Kimiko questioned, sounding increasingly worried.

"We either throw everything at him to see if he's weak against something, or hunt this writer down and tell him to resolve the comic!" Dojo added. "Maybe we'll tell him to put in a handsome dragon to beat the bad guy."

"Or we challenge him to a Xiaolin Showdown!" said Omi. "One formulated in such a way that both sides have an equal chance of victory."

Dojo circled around a towering skyscraper. At the very top of the building's spire, the monks managed to come close enough to see a small green crystal attached to a tiny golden tripod stand; the Memo Emerald. Before they could grasp it, Devastatron used his laser eye beams to set Dojo's tail alight.

The dragon yelped in surprise. "I'm going down, kids!"

"Abandon dragon!" yelled Kimiko as she and her three comrades leapt off Dojo's back and onto the roof of the skyscraper. Dojo spiralled down gently to the pavement far below, shrinking down to his diminutive size and dunking his burning tail in the drink of an annoyed cafe patron nearby.

The heroes approached the spire, but Devastatron landed heavily behind them. The devilish villain stomped towards them, swinging the complaining Jack around like ragdoll in his hand. "No evil gloating? The writer didn't characterize you too well, did he?"

Attempting to act before Devastatron could, Kimiko and Raimundo both performed a graceful leap up towards the tip of the spire where the Memo Emerald was perched. To their dismay, Devastatron performed an even more graceful leap, as though the writer who created him had given him the power to outperform any superhero.

Kimiko, Raimundo and Devastatron touched the green Shen Gong Wu at the same time, triggering the beginning of a Xiaolin Showdown. Bathed in the glow of the activated Shen Gong Wu, Raimundo began to devise a plan for the game.

"My servant shall fight by my side," boomed Devastatron, pulling a limp Jack Spicer towards him. "As the one who bought me into this weak world, he will be spared until I grow tired of him."

"That's awful nice of you," Jack muttered sheepishly.

Raimundo looked at Kimiko and they both grinned; Omi raised an eyebrow, realizing that the two Shoku Warriors had something planned.

"Devastatron and Jack; we challenge you to a Wei Zhi Surprise!" Raimundo said confidently.

Omi's jaw dropped. "A Wei Zhi Surprise can only occur if a Shoku Warrior is involved!"

"Allow me to explain," added Kimiko. "We each wager a Wu; but instead of announcing what it is at the start, we keep it secret until we use it!"

Devastatron tilted his head like a bemused dog as Raimundo continued. "First one to reach the bottom of the building wins it for their team! Let's go; Xiaolin Showdown!"

The entire skyscraper began to twist and shake, as though it was a tree caught in a strong windstorm. Raimundo and Kimiko were suddenly dressed in their blue showdown armours, as were Clay and Omi while they watched from the sidelines.

The four competitors almost lost their footing as the building surprisingly inverted itself; they were now standing on a small platform gazing up at the 'bottom' of the skyscraper. Numerous platforms sprouted from the sides of the unreal tower, spiralling upwards.

"That's probably not what they had in mind," said Clay.

"Gong Yi Tanpai!" yelled the combatants except Devastatron, feeling unsure of his surroundings for the first time in his fictional life.

Raimundo and Kimiko immediately performed a superhuman leap to the nearest platform and continued upwards, but Devastatron simply levitated upwards rapidly. Instead of revealing the Shen Gong Wu he had wagered, the super villain used his own powers, launching deadly lightning bolts from his fingers. The dark powers he unleashed were strong enough to disintegrate any platform in his way, and the two Shoku warriors had to think quickly to avoid falling.

Jack followed Devastatron, hovering behind him with the help of his Heli-bot. "How do you beat the unbeatable, Shoku losers?"

"Shoku Astro Wind!" yelled Raimundo, sending a powerful blast of air down towards the pursuing villains. Devastatron was completely unaffected, but the full force of the attack caused Jack's helicopter blades to creak and bend as if they were going to snap.

"Too much turbulence!" he squealed, suddenly revealing his wagered item. "Silk Spitter!"

As Jack continued to slowly climb the skyscraper with the help of the sticky webbing, Devastatron was beginning to reveal a lot more powers in his repertoire. He extended his arm forwards and transformed his hand into a huge sword before picking up flying speed, slashing at Kimiko and Raimundo as they ascended.

"Shoku Mars Fire" yelled Kimiko, launching a stream of flame from her hands towards the villain, trying to avoid her partner. Devastatron simply enveloped himself in a silvery force field to nullify the attack.

"I'll see how we can get through this!" Raimundo revealed his Shen Gong Wu, the Crystal Glasses, and placed them over his eyes. Raimundo gasped; the vision of the future that the spectacles granted him showed him complete darkness except for the glowing eyes of Devastatron, looming out of the black smoke.

The wind warrior quickly removed the Crystal Glasses and focussed on the present, but Kimiko could see the grave look on his face. In the blink of an eye, it appeared that Devastatron had vanished. He suddenly reappeared above Raimundo, conjuring a rain of flaming skulls.

The Shoku Warriors avoided the cackling projectiles, but Jack was not so lucky. As his shrieks were drowned out by a multitude of 'clunk' noises, Jack's Heli-bot began to release a trail of fumes. Glimpsing it for only a second, Raimundo was struck with an idea as he remembered what he saw in his vision of the future.

"We gotta combine our powers, Kimiko!" he yelled to his partner.

Devastatron was now moving with alarming speed, as though he had been lulling them into a false sense of security before. The comic book character noticed that both Raimundo and Kimiko were readying their elemental powers once again. "The forces of nature are nothing compared to my wrath! I can crush the cosmos in my hand."

The two Xiaolin warriors unleashed the power of wind and fire, but Devastatron merely activated his force field and boastfully folded his arms. However; it became apparent that Raimundo and Kimiko wanted this to happen. Nullified by his force field, the streams of wind and fire began to converge around Devastatron, forming a thick black cloud of ash.

Once the villain's glowing eyes were completely obscured by the smoke, Raimundo shouted to Kimiko. "Now's your chance; he's distracted!"

Kimiko nodded and flipped into the air; activating the Longi Kite she had wagered. Affixed to her back, the flying Shen Gong Wu carried her swiftly upwards as Omi and Clay cheered for her from below. Raimundo was busy eyeing the cloud of ash, knowing that Devastatron would not be blinded for much longer.

He gasped as he was suddenly faced with the image from the Crystal Glasses, somewhat glad it had not been depicting a dark future. Devastatron's glowing eyes became clearer and clearer, and it became apparent that he had his sights on Kimiko.

Instead of trying to hold him back, Raimundo looked up at Kimiko and used his wind element once again. The gust he unleashed gave the kite riding warrior of fire a dramatic speed boost, sending her further than Devastatron would ever hope to reach. The villain knocked Raimundo out of the way, but it was too late for him to prevent Kimiko from attaining victory.

The skyscraper and the surrounding city returned to their natural state, but the monks and the villains were now standing on the ground. Kimiko held the Longi Kite, Silk Spitter and Memo Emerald in her hands as her friends gathered around to congratulate her.

Bruised from Devastatron's powerful strike, Raimundo held his Crystal Glasses and the Shen Gong Wu that Devastatron had wagered but never used; the Majutsu Wand. Jack quickly noticed the Xiaolin team leader pointing the wand in Devastatron's direction.

"You idiot!" Jack yelled. His rage had overwritten the previous fear he had of the comic book villain. "Why the heck did you wager that?"

"So the object that bought me into this world would be a symbol of my victory," Devastatron boomed, surrounding his body in a crackling aura of lightning. "Enough! The outcome of this pathetic game means nothing! I shall begin my reign of terror by reducing those foolish enough to doubt my intelligence to mere atoms!"

Jack began cowering once again, but Raimundo activated the Majutsu Wand just before the villain could unleash his wrath. The beam of magical energy struck Devastatron before he could do anything, affecting the villain strangely. Devastatron appeared to shrink and flatten until he was nothing more than a life size painting on the pavement.

Removing his hands from over his eyes, Jack sheepishly looked towards the Xiaolin warriors and grinned. "Who knew it'd have a 'cancel' feature!"

Raimundo smiled and dropped the Majutsu Wand into Omi's hands, winking mischievously. Omi nodded with glee and called out the Shen Gong Wu's name, pointing it somewhere behind Jack's back. The boy genius turned around to see the billboard behind him come to life, his eyes widening in terror.

The billboard had been advertising a movie based on the very same comic book superhero that Jack had bought to life as a tiny man the first time he used the Majutsu Wand. Now far taller than any human being, the silvery suited hero loomed over the cowering villain.

"You must be a minion of Perplexo!" the superhero bellowed courageously.

"I must be on my way!" squealed Jack Spicer, flying off as fast as he could with the gigantic hero following closely behind, ray gun at the ready.


	3. El Guapo Lobo

The four Xiaolin Warriors raced across the white sands of the ring shaped atoll, avoiding Jack Spicer's onslaught. Jack's new and improved giant worm-bots burst from out of the ground around them, now featuring rotating saw blades between their individual segments. The mechanical monsters could move through the sand as easily as a dolphin jumping through water, trying to make lunges at their targets or trying to separate them.

Raimundo hopped over a worm-bot that arced out of the sand and slid under another, trying to keep his cool. Omi transformed his Shimo Staff into a double bladed weapon and span it around as he ran, deflecting any incoming attack or cutting the worm-bots in half. The segments continued to function as individuals, but Kimiko simply leapfrogged over them.

Just as Clay was about to bash them aside, a pair of mechanical jaws erupted from the sand at his feet and had the warrior of earth trapped. "Darn it!" he yelled before shouting to his teammates. "Don't mind me, go get the Wu!"

Clay began to distract the worm-bots, letting his three friends focus on their mission. Omi, Raimundo and Kimiko made their way through the undergrowth and coconut palms to reach the lagoon in the centre of the atoll. From where they were standing, the heroes could see a shining object sitting on a small rock in the middle.

"Wudai Neptune Water!" exclaimed Omi.

Omi used his elemental powers to part the shallow water so the three of them could run to the centre of the lagoon unhindered, as Jack Spicer could be seen flying overhead. As they got closer they could see the shield shaped mystic item clearly. Predictably, once the three of them reached the new Shen Gong Wu, the boy genius was there too.

When the four of their hands touched the shield, Raimundo was the first to speak. "Jack, we challenge you to a three against one Xiaolin Showdown! We wager our Changing Chopsticks, Serpent's Tail and Shard of Lightning!"

Raimundo, Kimiko and Omi pulled out their Shen Gong Wu in the order they were mentioned and showed them to their adversary. Jack wiped the sweat from his brow, clearly detesting the bright tropical sunlight.

"I'll wager the Ring of the Nine Dragons, but I'm deciding the game, and it's going to be pleasantly cool and shaded!" Jack panted. "The challenge is beach ball bash; I've gotta try and pop you while you three try and keep out of the way, if you can!"

"And we've gotta try and get you to knock yourself out of the game!" added Raimundo before they yelled in unison. "Let's go, Xiaolin Showdown!"

The rock they were standing on seemed to rise out of the water at first, but then the lagoon vanished and became a giant bowl of smooth stone surrounded by a moat of water. The palm trees surrounding the lagoon became gigantic and neon coloured, casting menacing shadows. Omi, Kimiko and Raimundo found themselves encased in transparent bubbles. To their dismay, Jack was encased in a spherical cage with spikes on the outside.

"Gong Yi Tan Pai!"

Jack immediately charged at Omi, but the water warrior swiftly rolled out of the way. The three heroes were circling around Jack, almost teetering on the edge of the giant bowl. Jack stood in the centre for a moment or two, picking out one of them to target next.

"Ring of the Nine Dragons!" he yelled, splitting himself into four individuals, each with their own cage.

The four Jacks sped off in the directions of north, south, east and west. The Xiaolin Warriors panicked and drastically altered their patterns to avoid the multiple adversaries, spiralling in random directions. Kimiko used the Serpent's Tail to avoid one of the Jacks, but deactivated the Shen Gong Wu too soon and found her bubble punctured by the spikes of another.

Kimiko flew off like an untied balloon as the air was noisily released from her sphere. Raimundo and Omi were too distracted by seeing their teammate shoot out of the bowl to notice that the Jacks had merged back into the original. The single Jack rolled towards Raimundo, laughing maniacally.

"Changing Chopsticks!" yelled Raimundo, noticing the villain from the corner of his eye.

The Shoku leader shrank down to such a small size that he entered Jack's cage as it rolled over him. Raimundo bounced around inside, pummelling Jack a couple of times before exiting the cage and returning to his ordinary size.

Bruised and battered, Jack almost did not see that he was dangerously close to the rim of the bowl. Holding back a shriek, Jack shifted his weight backwards so he rolled back into the centre again. Raimundo rolled slightly to the side to avoid Jack once more, but he could see the malice in the villain's eyes as he passed.

"Behold; the true power of the ring!" Jack boomed fiendishly, activating his Shen Gong Wu. "Let's Jack it up all the way to nine, baby!"

In the blink of an eye, the bowl became almost full of Jack Spicers. Raimundo had no way to stop himself from colliding with one of the nine spiked cages, but Omi used his Shard of Lightning to pause time for a brief moment. Omi passed through them slowly, solemnly glancing at the frozen form of Raimundo gasping in horror at his punctured bubble.

An idea suddenly occurred to Omi and he smiled, remembering the time that he had used the ring. He swerved around all the stationary Jacks and balanced himself on the edge of the bowl, waiting for the time of the Shard of Lightning to run out.

Once time returned to its ordinary pace, Omi was faced with an amusing site. The Jacks were all bashing into each other, completely ignoring him. Five of them managed to fall out of the bowl, while four remained squabbling in the centre.

"Is this baseball?" asked a big headed Jack.

"I think the other five of us went to get ice cream!" exclaimed a fat Jack enthusiastically.

"Hey, which team am I on again?" said an elderly copy of Jack.

"Gross! This is a girl's only team!" snapped a copy of Jack wearing a pink dress and hair in pigtails. "Get out of here!"

The three other Jacks rolled themselves out of the bowl while the pigtailed Jack stayed behind, turning to face Omi. "You must be the feminine side of Jack's personality!" chuckled the Wudai Warrior.

"Jack never gets in touch with me!" growled the feminine Jack. "But you probably can! Just roll right into these spikes first."

Omi ignored her and faced the other eight Jack clones, all bobbing in the moat of water outside the bowl. "First one to yell 'Ring of the Nine Dragons' wins!" he shouted to them cheerfully.

"Ring of the Nine Dragons!" yelled a copy of Jack that closely resembled the original. "I'm the greatest!"

The other clones of Jack seemed to be drawn towards him like a magnet, merging back into one. The feminine Jack screamed as she was pulled out of the bowl and merged with her original self, just before the landscape returned to normal and the showdown ended.

Jack found himself floating on his back in the lagoon as Omi stood on the rock, holding the new Shen Gong Wu above his head while Kimiko and Raimundo held the other four they had reclaimed. "The Shield of Many Suns is ours!" Omi proclaimed to his friends.

Dojo swooped down to meet them, carrying the battered looking Clay on his back. "Do you kids know you left poor Clay stuck with Jack's pets?" His tone reminded them of a mother scolding her children.

"Easy, Dojo," said Clay. "It was my decision to fend 'em off while they went for the Wu."

Dojo lowered his tail and the three other warriors ascended it like a staircase onto the dragon's back. As Jack saw them fly off, he smirked and pressed a button on a wrist mounted device. A swarm of winged Jack-bots were signalled into action, chasing after the heroes.

"Wow, what sore loser!" Kimiko exclaimed, being the first to notice they were being pursued. The robots began to fire a barrage of missiles and a series of laser blasts, but Dojo managed to avoid them by performing a barrel roll as the monks held on tightly.

"Shield of Many Suns!" Omi announced, holding the mystic shield in front of him and shutting his eyes, followed by Raimundo, Kimiko and Clay.

The sun shaped emblem on the shield illuminated and released a blinding flash of light, overloading the optical sensors of the Jack-bots. Most of the confused machines collided with each other, while several went off course and plunged into the ocean below. The heroes uncovered their eyes and cheered for the Shen Gong Wu's success.

"You can focus on flying now, Dojo!" Clay announced.

To their horror, Dojo was beginning to lose altitude and was failing to fly in a straight line. "I forgot to close my eyes," he mumbled in a dazed sounding voice.

Raimundo attempted to call upon his powers to lift Dojo higher, but as his vision gradually returned, the dragon noticed it was too late to prevent himself from falling and prepared for a crash landing. Dojo used his seldom used shape shifting abilities to expand into the form of a spongy blanket, wrapping around the Xiaolin Warriors.

The four warriors felt little of the impact, but Dojo took every hit as they fell through the canopy of a dense tropical island forest. The five of them rolled along the ground before being sent back up in the air after rebounding off a tree stump. Dojo became entangled in the branches of a tree and shifted back into his original form, dropping the Xiaolin Warriors to the forest floor.

Omi, Kimiko, Clay and Raimundo were virtually unharmed, landing softly on their feet. They gazed up at the tree and at the motionless Dojo, hanging limply amongst the vines. Clay immediately began to climb the tree, holding onto the trunk with such strength that it looked like he would uproot it. Eventually he leapt down, carrying the heavily injured Dojo in his hands.

"This can't be happening…" Kimiko said, beginning to sound like she was panicking. "We've gotta take him to a hospital, or a vet!"

"I forgot to bring the Silver Manta Ray," mumbled Omi, looking like he was on the verge of tears.

Raimundo bit his bottom lip. "I thought I'd be ready for something like this to happen."

"He'll be okay," said Clay. "We gotta find ourselves a safe place to rest, though."

"What?" Raimundo said incredulously. "Clay, I know you know lots about animals, but do you really know enough about dragons?" The Shoku Warrior sounded like he was losing his temper.

Clay remained silent for a few seconds before he resumed speaking. "Sure I do; Dojo's told me a lot of stuff. For starters, they heal much faster than us folks. It's why they're so long lived and why Chase Young always wants to put them in his soup."

The earth warrior's friends looked surprised. Without a word, the three of them followed Clay through the jungle as they searched for a place to rest. "Not even I have heard of this, and I have known Dojo since I was a baby," said Omi.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, a team of explorers cut through the undergrowth as a camera crew followed closely behind. Walking at the very back of the party was a giant of a man with a muscular, statuesque physique. He wore only a pair of wrestling tights, boots and a wrestler's mask; all coloured dark blue with a wolf and thunderbolt motif.<p>

Walking alongside him was a teenage boy, carrying a surprisingly large pile of luggage in front of him. He was barefoot and wore only baggy trousers and a torn vest. The boy's hair and skin seemed to be a uniform brown from the dirt that covered him, indicating that he had done a lot more work than the people who surrounded him.

"Are you still documenting our island adventure, Manu?" asked the wrestler in a thick Mexican accent. "Every moment is a once in a lifetime experience!" He took a deep breath and exhaled proudly.

Manu, still struggling with the pile of luggage, did not bother to state the obvious and say that his hands were full. He opened a zipper on the side of one bag with his teeth and pulled out a pen and notepad with his teeth. Manu surprisingly managed to start writing about their trek with his mouth, his notepad propped up against the bags in front of his face. It seemed he had been asked to do this difficult task many times before.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the Xiaolin warriors arrived at a clearing in the dense jungle. Obscured by the leaves and entangling vines were the ruins of some sort of ancient village. There were numerous moss covered statues of beasts and men scattered about, all of them missing at least one limb or head. Most of the structures had collapsed or caved in, but one or two were fairly intact.<p>

"Let's get out of this heat and into some shade," Clay said quietly. "Poor Dojo's as hot as a branding iron to a longhorn's behind."

The monks filed into the entrance of what appeared to be a ruined temple one by one, with Clay leading. Raimundo was last, but he was distracted trying to swat an annoying mosquito and collided with the wall before stumbling into the doorway.

Inside the building was a towering statue of some sort of female deity, remarkably intact compared to the statues outside. The room was illuminated dimly by a couple of small openings in the ceiling, letting narrow beams of sunlight inside. Clay removed his neckerchief and also produced a handkerchief from his pocket, fashioning a sort of soft bed at the statue's feet to place the unconscious dragon in.

"What do we do now? Wait?" Raimundo questioned, peering over Clay's shoulder.

Clay nodded in response. "It'd help if we found some food and water. None of us bought anything to last us more than a day."

"I shall use the Lotus Twister to see if there's anybody who can aid us!" Omi proclaimed. "Arms and legs of rubber will be highly useful for swinging and striding through the jungle!"

"I'll see if I can get a signal," Kimiko mumbled, tapping at her mobile phone.

Clay shook his head in disappointment. "None of you know how to forage for food or get clean drinking water?"

"Hmm, maybe we should've forgotten about saving the world and joined the cub scouts instead!" Raimundo exclaimed.

Clay was about to angrily raise his voice, but a feeble voice stopped him. "Hey kids, I'm trying to get some rest here."

Dojo had half opened his eyes, which seemed to cheer the four heroes up immensely. "Are you feeling less sore, Dojo?" Omi asked.

"Well, now I'm awake, I can fully enjoy the pain I'm experiencing right now," the dragon muttered. "If it isn't obvious already, I don't think I'll be flying for a while."

"Dojo used his shape changing powers to help soften our fall," Clay added. "He doesn't use those powers often; it takes up a lot of his energy compared to flying and size changing."

"I still don't think my organs are back in their original places," Dojo groaned.

The noises outside the ruin seemed to grow louder until it was evident that it was not just the wind blowing through the bushes and the trees. Omi ran outside to see what was making the sound, but immediately prepared for battle once a menacing shape emerged from the undergrowth. The warrior of water was faced by a scaly red monster with long tusks and claws, brandishing a wooden cub.

Omi was about to strike, but from out of the blue, the Mexican wrestler came to tackle the beast. After tackling the creature, the man struck it with a punch that seemed to possess more power than it displayed. It seemed like the monster was dramatically overreacting.

Both the man and monster stood motionless for a few seconds before someone yelled "cut" from out of sight. The wrestler and creature assumed a relaxed stance, and the monster took off its head to reveal a heavily sweating man inside.

"Think you could edit the little round headed jungle kid out of the shot?" said a frustrated voice as a film crew emerged from the bushes.

Omi grinned and ran back inside the ruined temple to alert the others. "Good news, my friends! I have found some people to help us, and I did it in no time flattened!"

The three other warriors ran past Omi, who was hoping Raimundo would take note of his valiant efforts. "Is that El Guapo Lobo?" asked Raimundo quietly with a smile.

"Is he some kind of celebrity?" Clay questioned.

"He's well known in Mexico and across South America!" Raimundo replied. "I grew up on a diet of his earlier shows and the cereal he advertised! He visited where I lived too, but I never got the chance to see him."

"Looks like they've got a lot of food," added Kimiko. "He must be shooting a new show here."

"The Handsome Survival Hero," said a voice from behind them. The Xiaolin warriors turned their attention to Manu, who was struggling under the weight of several monster costumes. "It's the name of the show."

"Could you ask your buddies to turn the noise down a little? We've got a guy who needs some shuteye," Clay said, glancing back at the ruins.

Manu grinned and dropped the monster costumes onto the floor. "You mean Dojo the dragon?" he asked excitedly.

The Xiaolin warriors were surprised that he seemed to know them well, but before they could speak, they were interrupted by the imposing figure of El Guapo Lobo approaching them. "Pick those costumes up, Manu; there is still work to be done!"

Raimundo eagerly held out his hand for the TV star to shake and was amazed when the wrestler did so. "You must be the Xiaolin Dragons," El Guapo Lobo said with a smile. "I am honoured to meet some fellow legendary heroes out in the untamed wilds."

El Guapo Lobo faced his camera crew, who seemed to be almost ready to shoot another scene. "Attention everyone!" he yelled to them. "Let us finish with the filming for today; there are some important people I wish to confer with!"

* * *

><p>It was not long before the celebrity and monks, excluding Clay, were sitting down together on portable chairs to discuss their adventures. "We can give a demonstration of our Shen Gong Wu if you'd like!" Raimundo said eagerly.<p>

El Guapo Lobo looked confused momentarily before Raimundo revealed the Serpent's Tail and Star Hanabi. "Ah, you mean the weapons which you use to put on a show! I wish to see how you make them work!"

Omi snatched the Serpent's Tail from Raimundo's hand and activated its power, sinking through the ground and re-emerging a few feet away like a phantom. Raimundo was irritated, but El Guapo Lobo's mouth hung open in amazement. "I shall demonstrate our Shen Gong Wu one by one until we show you the one we retrieved today!"

"Increíble…" muttered the wrestling star. "That was the greatest magic trick I have seen."

Kimiko leant towards Raimundo and whispered in his ear. "I don't think this guy knows the Wu are for real."

Omi was now showing off the Lotus Twister while the wrestler applauded him. "Eh, I think he'll realize eventually," Raimundo said.

El Guapo Lobo suddenly stood up, assuming a heroic stance and bellowed loudly. "Enough magic tricks! Its time you demonstrate your fighting skills!"

Raimundo stood up as well. "Sure! I'll see if I can get Clay to spar with me!"

Clay was already walking out of the ruins, alerted by the loud voices outside. "Alright, Dojo says he'll be fine for a while," he explained, seeming a lot more cheerful. "After a little bit of playful brawling let's get something to eat."

Both he and Raimundo started to exchange blows, slowly at first, before increasing speed and demonstrating more complex techniques. Omi looked on, still putting on a show with the magical effects of the Shen Gong Wu. He ran behind the sparring warriors of wind and earth and used the Star Hanabi, launching fireworks in the background.

El Guapo Lobo was laughing with glee, thinking how the supposed special effects put the ones in his films to shame. Finally, Omi put away the Star Hanabi and lifted the Shield of Many Suns above his head. Kimiko was the only person who realized what was coming next, but it was too late.

The Shield of Many Suns emitted a blinding flash of light once again, blinding everyone except Kimiko, who covered her eyes. The filming crew were startled as well, stumbling over each other and damaging expensive equipment. Eventually there was a deafening thump noise, followed by the sound of someone falling flat on their back.

Kimiko uncovered her eyes and saw that everyone was still in a blind stupor, but it seemed like they would quickly snap out of it. She gasped as she saw El Guapo Lobo lying on the ground, completely unconscious. Even more shocking was the fact that Clay was standing over him, looking at his clenched fists.

When everyone else regained their sight, a lot of them gathered around the knocked out wrestling star. "Sorry! I didn't mean it!" spluttered Clay. "I must've swung a punch in the wrong direction!"

Raimundo glared angrily at Omi, who dropped all the Shen Gong Wu he was holding immediately in disgrace, before turning to face the unconscious El Guapo Lobo. "Dude, you knocked him out!" he whispered to Clay, his voice sounding like a mixture of admiration and shock.

Manu stood back with a look of horror on his face. "No one's ever knocked out El Guapo Lobo…"

"I said I was sorry!" Clay exclaimed.

"It is my fault, Clay," Omi muttered. "Mister Lobo will be very upset when he wakes up, but I am sure we can apologise together."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, El Guapo Lobo was coming to his senses, surrounded by a couple of medics. He abruptly got to his feet and pushed the medics aside, mumbling that he was fine. The wrestler marched over to Clay, who was busy having a conversation with his friends about Dojo's improving condition. He tapped the Texan warrior on the back to get his attention.<p>

"What a marvellous display of strength!" exclaimed the wrestler, forcing a huge grin. "Soon I will make preparations for our match!"

Clay was confused, struggling to choose whether to apologise or ask what the celebrity was trying to say, so Kimiko spoke for him. "You mean a wrestling match?" she asked.

"Of course I do!" Although he seemed cheerful, both Kimiko and Clay could detect a hint of anger in his words. "I wish to wrestle señor Bailey so I may witness his strength in a fair fight! No man has ever knocked me out before, and the great El Guapo Lobo cannot resist a challenge! My film crew will be ready when you are!"

Clay seemed rather bashful. "I'm happy that you admire my skills and all, but televised wrestling matches aren't my thing."

The grin seemed to momentarily fade from the wrestler's face. "I am sure you will change your mind," he said. "If you have fought evil geniuses, immortal warriors and powerful witches, surely a match against the strongest wrestler in all of Méjico will be a suitable challenge!"

He strode off, leaving the befuddled Xiaolin warriors behind. Manu silently crept up to them as soon as El Guapo Lobo was out of sight. "I think there'll be fewer problems if you fulfil his request," he whispered to the four heroes.

"GL's cool and all, but once our dragon gets better, we'd better get going," Raimundo explained.

Manu looked slightly fearful. "I've heard about bad things happening to people who don't fulfil his requests. I fear that it isn't a coincidence," he muttered. "El Guapo Lobo is loved by thousands on television, but when the cameras stop filming and the public isn't watching, he becomes a very different man."

"Name a TV star that isn't like that," mumbled Clay. "We better find some proper grub. I'm not sure the stuff they're serving to Mister Lobo is exactly healthy."

Raimundo looked incredulous. "What? You mean like go and climb trees and fetch fruit? But they have tacos!"

Clay smiled. "That's a great idea, Raimundo! I'm sure there'll be some tasty papayas around here." Raimundo groaned and lowered his face into his hand.

* * *

><p>Moments later, Clay and Raimundo were trekking through the forest. The insects seemed to stay away from Clay and congregate around Raimundo for some reason, swarming around his head as he futilely tried to swat them away.<p>

"Ha-ha!" Clay exclaimed, pointing upwards at the trees while Raimundo stepped into a patch of thick mud. "Papayas, just as I suspected!"

At the top of a tree trunk grew a cluster of fruit, some orange and some green. Raimundo quickly pointed to a neighbouring tree with a beehive hanging in its branches. "More like papa-no; I don't wanna be stung."

"Oh boy, we can have them with honey!" Clay exclaimed, much to Raimundo's chagrin.

There was a violent rustling in another tree, catching the attention of the two warriors. A rather fat iguana missing half of its tail fell out of the tree, grabbing onto a lower branch. The branch dangled above a gigantic red flower bud, which quickly unravelled to reveal an enormous carnivorous plant.

The monstrous flower gnashed its jaws as the iguana hung precariously above it. It became apparent that the somewhat skinny branch could not bear the reptile's weight, and was beginning to snap. Clay quickly pulled out the Tongue of Saiping to communicate in iguana speech.

"Keep calm, little fella! We'll get you to safety!" Clay announced.

The iguana said something about performing dangerous stunts, and his stupidity of how he performed another when he lost half his tail last time. He was speaking hurriedly and it was clear that he was just panicking even more.

The branch creaked and began to visibly splinter, just as Clay finished rummaging through his belongings for another Shen Gong Wu for the situation. "Lasso Boa-Boa!"

The magical lasso wrapped around the frightened animal and pulled it towards Clay, just as the branch snapped and fell into the jaws of the flesh eating plant. The Wudai Warrior of earth gently cradled the reptile for a moment before placing him on the ground.

"Wow, I don't know how I can repay you!" the iguana gasped before scurrying back into the undergrowth.

Unseen by the warriors of earth and wind, El Guapo Lobo crouched in the shadows, thinking about what he had just observed. "It appears that señor Bailey is friends with the lizards. Perhaps the way to the soul of a true warrior is through his heart..."

El Guapo Lobo hurriedly scurried away when Kimiko emerged from the bushes in the direction that Clay and Raimundo had come. "Dojo's back to his senses! He can faintly feel that a new Shen Gong Wu's going to pop up soon!"

* * *

><p>The four Xiaolin warriors gathered around Dojo, who seemed livelier. However, it was clear his physical injuries would not allow him to carry them to their next destination. "I knew there was a reason I crash landed on this darn forsaken island, like a moth drawn to a flame!" Dojo exclaimed, pausing to swat at the flies buzzing around him. "There's a new Shen Gong Wu somewhere near here, but it hasn't properly revealed itself! Or maybe my senses just need to fine-tune themselves."<p>

To their surprise, El Guapo Lobo stumbled into the building after ducking through the doorway. "Please, allow me to know more about how you gather these mystical items."

"It is no large deal," Omi said boastfully. "Our magical dragon senses when a Shen Gong Wu has awakened, we fly to its secluded location, commence a Xiaolin Showdown if we have to, and then fly back to the Temple to put the Shen Gong Wu in our most secret vault!"

"Why don't you just go ahead and give him the combination to the lock..." mumbled Dojo.

The wrestler's eyes widened. "A Xiaolin Showdown?"

"It's pretty much the most exciting part of the day," Raimundo explained. "That's if the bad guy has any Shen Gong Wu of his own he can wager. One day I think Jack will forget to bring some."

El Guapo Lobo nodded cheerfully. "It is interesting to know more about your profession!"

Since Clay and Raimundo had failed to procure much food, El Guapo Lobo presented the heroes with a feast of his own. All of them enjoyed dining, except for Clay and Dojo. Clay remained inside the ruined temple to eat the papayas, while Dojo explained that Mexican food never agreed with his stomach.

"Kimiko said that Guapo guy wanted to wrestle you," the green dragon said with a chuckle. "He seems like a jerk, you should agree to the match and knock him out again!"

"I don't think that'd be too swell," Clay added. "If I beat him, that bronco's just going to get angrier and angrier. He'd probably get more of his wrestling buddies to fight me."

"I've known you long enough to know you could beat those guys easily!" Dojo exclaimed.

"It'd be a pain in the rump having to accept challenges all the time. You've lived in the Xiaolin Temple since it was built, surely you'd know that it takes a stronger fighter to know when it's time to refuse a fight," Clay said.

Dojo sighed happily. "I'm going to sound like a broken record thanks to the number of times I've said this in the past; I think I see a little more Master Fung in you each day!" Clay chuckled to himself, feeling sort of bashful all of a sudden.

* * *

><p>Night fell soon afterwards, but El Guapo Lobo's crew had provided the heroes with sleeping bags and other pieces of equipment to ensure a good night's sleep. Dojo had refused to move from the position where he lay, fearing that his injuries would be uncomfortable in any other position. The dragon's eyes suddenly flicked open and his body began to shake; the new Shen Gong Wu he had partially sensed earlier had activated. Before he could alert his comrades, a firm hand closed itself around his snout and shoved him into a dark burlap sack.<p>

Hoping to see that Dojo had fully recovered, the Xiaolin warriors were shocked to find that their friend was missing in the morning. "GL's vanished too," said Raimundo, after questioning the superstar's film crew.

Kimiko appeared, holding a small pile of Shen Gong Wu. "Some of the Wu are missing, including the Shield of Many Suns!"

Omi was greatly upset, but Clay placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Don't worry Omi," Clay said calmly, although there was a small hint of fury hidden in his tranquil voice. "I think I've just put two and two together, and I'm not happy with the result."

Clay produced a golden Shen Gong Wu from his pocket, and Omi pointed at it in awe. "The Compass of Yujo! We will be able to ask it which direction El Guapo Lobo has taken our friend!" Omi exclaimed as Clay activated the objects power. The compass needle settled in a north-easterly position, triggering Clay to immediately run in that direction with his comrades close behind him.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Manu and his boss were trekking through the forest, although the boy did not know why. El Guapo Lobo held a sack over his shoulder, filled with several clattering objects. "What's in the bag?" Manu questioned.<p>

"The camera crew have found the perfect spot to shoot the next scene of my adventure!" El Guapo Lobo explained, ignoring what his accomplice had asked.

"But they're not following us! They were still asleep when we left," Manu said, sounding somewhat concerned. A sudden rattling and mumbling came from El Guapo Lobo's sack, catching Manu's attention. "What's in the bag?" he asked again, just before he heard an audible cry for help come from inside the sack.

El Guapo Lobo grunted in irritation and pulled out the Lasso Boa-Boa, using it to instantly tie up Manu and attach him to a nearby tree branch. "Don't run off to tell them, Manu. I must battle señor Bailey, for my honour."

Manu attempted to cry out, but the snakelike Shen Gong Wu was too tight for his lungs. El Guapo Lobo held Dojo in his right hand and walked to the edge of a wide but shallow ravine; the dragon's nose pointing at a shimmering object below them.

"There's the Rod of Shiitake, just like you wanted!" Dojo's voice became hoarse as the wrestler's grip tightened around his throat. "Can you let me go now?"

El Guapo Lobo shoved Dojo back into the sack. "I have no need for the power to grow mushrooms. We shall wait here until the Xiaolin Warriors arrive, then I will commence a showdown with señor Bailey! I am sorry for causing you much discomfort, dragon, but this is the only way I will be able to test my strength."

"Just you wait until I get my strength back!" mumbled Dojo, his voice muffled by the sack. "You'll be sorry!"

The Xiaolin Warriors came across the helpless Manu, writhing in the grip of the Lasso Boa-Boa. "El Guapo Lobo has Dojo!" he gasped as Raimundo and Kimiko struggled to untie him.

"You go after Dojo!" Raimundo said to Omi and Clay, still following directions that the Compass of Yujo was giving them. As the monks of water and earth stormed off, Raimundo turned his attention to Manu. "El Guapo Lobo is Guapo Loco," he mumbled, "I can't believe I looked up to him as a kid."

"Me too," Manu added dejectedly. Once he was free, Manu continued to speak with less difficulty, leaning up against the tree. "I didn't have anywhere to go all those years ago, but GL took me off the streets. As much as I dislike his behaviour, I still owe him for rescuing me."

"If you want, you can come with us," Raimundo said, putting a hand on Manu's shoulder. Before Raimundo could say anything else, the three of them became startled by a massive flock of birds, fleeing due to a disturbance deeper inside the forest.

* * *

><p>Omi and Clay stood at the opposite side of the ravine, glaring at the crazed masked wrestler. El Guapo Lobo looked immensely pleased that his plan had worked, but was caught by surprise when Omi leapt towards him, clearing the ravine in a single bound using a blast of water from the Orb of Tornami.<p>

Unfortunately, the wrestler regained his composure at the last second and presented the Golden Finger. Frozen helplessly in midair by the Shen Gong Wu, Omi could only watch as El Guapo Lobo clambered down the ravine and walked towards the Rod of Shiitake waiting below.

"Darn it!" Clay yelled, leaping down to confront the superstar.

The Rod of Shiitake was a short wooden sceptre, decorated with many small golden mushrooms with a significantly large mushroom at one end. Clay made a dive for the new Shen Gong Wu, hoping to be fast enough to deny El Guapo Lobo a showdown. However, to his dismay, the Wudai Warrior of earth found the wrestler's hand had touched the rod at the same time.

"It is time to have my rematch with you, señor Bailey! I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!" El Guapo Lobo boasted as the two of them got to their feet, still holding the Rod of Shiitake between them.

"I wager the Mikado Arm!" announced Clay, presenting his item of choice.

"And I shall wager this!" El Guapo Lobo yelled, holding up the Shield of Many Suns. It seemed that he only knew the names of certain Shen Gong Wu. "The game shall be a cage wrestling match!"

"Let's go," Clay said before they shouted in unison. "Xiaolin Showdown!"

Kimiko, Raimundo and Manu arrived to see a mass of vines encircle Clay and El Guapo Lobo before the floor of the ravine rose up, creating a flat square wrestling ring. The vines twisted high into the air before intricately weaving themselves into a chain link fence, surrounding the area. The only way to escape the ring was to climb up and over the top to freedom.

"Gong Yi Tan Pai!" the cry of battle was punctuated by the sound of a wrestling bell.

Both combatants started off in opposite corners of the ring, but before the two of them clashed, El Guapo Lobo threw the Shield of Many Suns to the side. "We will not make use of these weapons," he boomed. "We shall only use our wrestling experience."

"Not used to wrestling people," Clay said, tossing the Mikado Arm to one side. "I know a lot about wrestling pigs and bulls, though."

El Guapo Lobo ran forward and tried to kick Clay in the stomach while he was speaking, but Clay caught the wrestler's shin with a firm grip. El Guapo Lobo was then spun around and flipped onto his back, over Clay's knee. As El Guapo Lobo got to his feet, Clay seized him and threw him into a corner of the ring.

While the superstar had his back against the padded turnbuckles, Clay charged forward. EL Guapo Lobo could see that Clay was fuelled by the rage he had against him for kidnapping his dragon friend, grinning cunningly. He extended his leg to kick Clay in the stomach once again, this time succeeding.

Clay, doubled over in pain, was then picked up by his shoulders and flipped upside down. The earth warrior then found himself sitting on El Guapo Lobo's shoulders, the wrestler's head in-between his thighs. The superstar whirled around several times at an alarming speed before sending Clay tumbling to the ground, landing painfully on his back.

"Clay, give him the Meteor Masher! The Tornado Thrasher! The Powerslam Spinebuster!" Dojo yelled from outside the arena, peeking out from the burlap sack. "I don't know the real names of any wrestling moves but I'm sure those names I just made up are better than all of them."

El Guapo Lobo helped Clay up, but then struck him with a punch to the chin. The impact seemed to bring Clay back to his senses, causing him to retaliate immediately by throwing a punch right back at his opponent. Facing El Guapo Lobo, Clay reached between his opponent's legs and reached around his back from the same side with his other arm.

"I've thought of something, Dojo!" Clay grunted, lifting the wrestler up.

The superstar was turned upside down, with Clay holding him up high with his arm cradling his back. El Guapo Lobo was thrown to the ground, visibly bouncing on his backside. Although Clay's technique was a simple slam, El Guapo Lobo felt a superhuman level of strength behind it. Drained of his energy, the wrestler began to quickly crawl away to the corner of the ring where the Shield of Many Suns lay.

"He's cheating!" gasped Kimiko, but Clay could not hear her over the sound of his other friends cheering.

"Unfortunately, he isn't!" Dojo said in a panicked tone, holding his hands over his eyes. "The 'no Wu allowed' thing wasn't mentioned as part of the rules before the showdown started!"

Clay turned around to see El Guapo Lobo at the other side of the ring, brandishing the magical shield. "Shield of a Million Suns!" he yelled.

The shield's power was not activated due to it being misnamed; El Guapo Lobo tried to rectify his mistake by announcing its name again. "Sun Shield! Shield of the Sun! Solar Shield of…Power? Shield of Shining-"

Clay had already charged forward, punching the Shield of Many Suns into the wrestler's face, knocking him out once again. The Wudai Warrior smiled triumphantly and dusted off his hands before turning his attention towards climbing out of the ring. Even when Clay climbed to the very top of the wall of vines, El Guapo Lobo was still lying down with the shield covering his face.

As soon as Clay set foot outside the arena, the environment returned to its normal self. Clay held the shield, Mikado Arm and Rod of Shiitake, handing them to his companions as they congratulated him.

El Guapo Lobo groaned and began to stand up again, repositioning his mask. "I demand another rematch!" he roared. "This time we will wrestle without a Xiaolin Showdown! No false mystical smoke and mirrors!"

"Hold on there, partner," Clay said. "You're saying that all this time, you thought we were faking our mystic powers? But you used some of our Wu yourself…or at least tried to."

As the Xiaolin Warriors began to chuckle, El Guapo Lobo grew more furious. "Follow me, Manu! We're leaving!"

Manu frowned and folded his arms. "Not today, Tito. I'm not going to keep following a man who can't admit when he's been honourably defeated. The Xiaolin Warriors have met defeat several times, but their failures have made their many victories even sweeter."

"Tito? Is that your real name?" Raimundo asked the wrestler with a chuckle.

The disgraced superstar frowned and picked up the burlap sack that held Dojo. "I still have your lizard friend, señor Bailey! I shall only hand him back to you if you agree to a rematch!"

The sack began to shake violently until it suddenly tore apart. With a great roar, Dojo grew to his enormous full size, knocking his captor off his feet. El Guapo Lobo's camera crew had arrived, eagerly filming the scene before them. The wrestler looked up at the giant green dragon, whimpered "Madre", and promptly fainted.

Happy to see that Dojo had fully recovered, the Xiaolin Warriors climbed on as he beckoned them to ride on his back. Raimundo turned to look down at Manu, holding a hand out to him to help him climb aboard. "Coming with us, Manu?"

Manu shook his head. "I think I would only get in the way. Besides, I've been following your adventures for a while; I feel like I've been adventuring with you!"

"Maybe we can meet up again some time," Clay said, making Manu smile. He waved goodbye as Dojo began to take off. The camera crew ignored El Guapo Lobo's plight, instead focussing on the green dragon vanishing into the clouds above.

* * *

><p>The four heroes and their dragon soon arrived back at the Xiaolin Temple. The journey had been lighting fast, as Dojo had been pleased that he could fly once more. Shortly after they arrived, Raimundo, Dojo and Master Fung disappeared to a secluded part of the Temple grounds. Clay and Kimiko had to physically restrain Omi in order to prevent him from eavesdropping on the wise master and their leader's conversation.<p>

An hour or so later, the monks gathered in the main hall in front of Master Fung. "Raimundo told me all about your ordeal today. I am glad to see that you are all unscathed. I was especially pleased with the way Clay handled things," said the wise master. "His earth element reflects the connection he has with nature."

Clay grinned. "I thought you always hated my survival lessons, Raimundo!"

"It wasn't me who told Master Fung about them," Raimundo said, pointing to Dojo sitting on Master Fung's shoulder.

"Thanks for being a great doc," Dojo said bashfully.

Master Fung smiled calmly and resumed speaking. "You have always shown great chivalry, sincerity and composure, Clay. Since your earliest days at the temple, you have proven there are simple solutions to complex problems. You managed to prove your maturity to your father, allowing you to resume your studies here. By repairing the bond with your sister, you prevented the loss of our Shen Gong Wu. Kindness and patience yield many rewards, young dragon of earth."

Clay looked down at his waist, almost blinded by the flash of light emitted from his turquoise Wudai Warrior sash. His sash transformed into the golden Shoku Warrior sash sported by Raimundo and Kimiko, right before his eyes.

"That's my man," Dojo said.

"Now that three of you have risen to Shoku Warrior, you are gradually reaching your next great undertaking," added Master Fung.

Omi merely clapped his hands in approval as Raimundo and Kimiko embraced Clay. He was happy that Clay had advanced to Shoku Warrior level, but his happiness could not stop him from focussing on one fact he deemed important. For the first time in his life as a Xiaolin Warrior, Omi was lagging behind his companions.


	4. They Don't Know Jack

In a foggy valley, the Xiaolin Warriors were searching for the latest Shen Gong Wu. The spire like mountains of black stone loomed menacingly above them as Dojo flew low, with his belly almost touching the thick grey haze. The four heroes held on tight as their dragon friend flew through a gaping hole in the side of one mountain and out the other side.

"The Osu Stone fits in the palm of the user's hand, giving them extraordinary pushing power!" Dojo explained as he scanned the misty horizon for the new mystical item.

"Sounds useful for when Clay decides to take his time in the corridor," Raimundo mumbled.

"I heard that!" Clay yelled. "You don't move too fast first thing in the morning either."

Dojo suddenly swooped downwards through the layer of fog and up the side of a mountain, making his passengers shout as though they were on a rollercoaster. As they approached a large ledge, the dragon shrank to his smaller size and the four heroes landed softly on their feet.

Omi gazed up to the top of the mountain, noticing many smaller ledges above them as well as many holes in the rock face. "The Osu Stone must be inside one of the holes!" he exclaimed. "We must risk putting our hands inside each one!"

"Please let there be no bugs," Kimiko muttered as she rolled up her sleeve and gracefully hopped up to the nearest ledge, plunging her arm into the nearest hole.

Reaching in as far as she could, Kimiko let out a startled gasp. "Wow, first time lucky!" Raimundo called out.

Kimiko's smile faded and was replaced by a look of slight disgust. "I'm not so sure, guys. It feels too big for something that can fit in your palm, and a little wet." The Shoku Warrior of fire pulled her hand out from the hole to witness that it was covered in slime, making her cringe.

She peered into the hole to see something round and shiny. Kimiko gasped when she realized it was a massive eye, blinking a couple of times before a deafening deep chortle shook the mountain. Kimiko leapt back down to her companions just in time to avoid the Cyclops bursting out of the mountainside, sending boulders flying in all directions.

"I don't know how he got in there, but I like his style!" laughed Jack Spicer, rising behind them with his heli-bot while being accompanied by a swarm of his machines. "Squash them into paste!"

The Cyclops guffawed and plodded towards the waiting heroes, but the ledge they were on began to give way. The Xiaolin Warriors leapt onto some of the higher ledges just before the ledge crumbled away, sending the Cyclops tumbling down the mountainside. Jack winced and looked down at the debris far below him, witnessing the dim-witted giant's hand burst out of the rubble to give thumbs up, as if to signal that he was unhurt.

Omi, Raimundo, Kimiko and Clay saw their chance to leap further up the mountain. A hole at the very top seemed to have a bright light shining within it; the activated Osu Stone. Jack chased after them, sending Jack-bots in to delay the team's advancement. They dispatched the robots easily, but they were visibly slowing down. Jack rubbed his hands together in anticipation as he flew ahead, but Raimundo used a great blast of wind to catch up, vanquishing some of the Jack-bots at the same time.

"Rod of Shiitake!" Raimundo yelled, pointing the mushroom sceptre Shen Gong Wu at the villain. Jack squealed as he found small mushrooms sprouting all over his body, including his heli-bot. As the fungi were interfering with his flight, Jack deactivated his flying machine and landed on a ledge to brush the mushrooms off his body.

Standing amongst a mess of mushrooms, Jack looked up to see the Shoku Warrior of wind far ahead of him. The boy genius grinned as he remembered he possessed a Shen Gong Wu that would give him an advantage; the Fancy Feet. The blue and gold sandals allowed him to run at a superhuman speed, overtaking Raimundo in a matter of seconds.

As he ran and jumped ahead, Jack thought to turn around so he could see the look of defeat on Raimundo's face. However, Jack saw Raimundo use another Shen Gong Wu to counter the effects of the Fancy Feet. Jack found himself running at normal speed all of a sudden, even though he was still wearing the speed increasing sandals.

Raimundo had used the Shard of Lightning to slow time to almost a complete standstill, rendering Jack's speed increase negligible. Raimundo knocked the evil genius off his feet with a flying kick before going ahead and taking the Osu Stone from its hole, deactivating the effect of the Shard of Lighting at the same time. Raimundo smiled and looked at the new Shen Gong Wu in his hand, resembling a silver brooch with an orange stone in the centre shaped like an open palm.

Jack wearily got to his feet and held the Fancy Feet in front of him. "Trade ya," Jack said sheepishly, gesturing to the Osu Stone Raimundo held.

Raimundo rolled his eyes and held the Osu Stone in the centre of his palm, aiming it at Jack. As soon as Raimundo yelled its name, Jack was sent flying backwards, dropping the Fancy Feet. Jack soared over the horizon, followed by a swarm of Jack-bots.

* * *

><p>Jack was thankful that his robots had managed to save him, and had managed to get him back home in one piece. After calming his nerves with some herbal tea, the boy genius began to design some evil plans to utilize in case another Shen Gong Wu revealed itself. Katnappé was watching him create 'blueprints', which looked more like children's drawings.<p>

"Why did you draw a picture of the Xiaolin Warriors as the opposite sex?" the villainess asked Jack, pointing to one particular drawing with her claw.

"Get your paws off that! I'm saving that plan for a day when I have the necessary resources!" Jack snapped angrily before explaining. "I'll need a tonne of explosives; any kind will do as long as it creates a good enough explosion. Then I'll dress the explosives up as their perfect soul mates!"

Katnappé rolled her eyes. "Don't stop there," she mumbled sarcastically.

"When the Xiaolin losers lean in for a kiss; boom! Their lips will trigger the hidden detonators!" Jack looked like he had just told her a scientific breakthrough he had made, waiting for applause.

Jack was only answered by the sound of a siren; his new Shen Gong Wu detector had picked up the readings of another mystical item. A look of panic briefly appeared on his face as he rummaged through the pile of 'blueprints', but eventually he picked out an evil plan that satisfied him. "Let's go dweeb catching!"

* * *

><p>Dojo was soaring through a desert canyon, following a river bellow as the Xiaolin Warriors conversed about the new Shen Gong Wu they were hunting for. "The Fleur De Hoquet gives your enemy a nasty hiccupping fit!" Kimiko read as they watched the simple figures within the Shen Gong Wu scroll demonstrate the flower's strange effects.<p>

"It'd be pretty funny to see if it works on a guy like Chase Young," Raimundo laughed before putting on a mockingly eloquent voice. "That pretty boy would probably hate doing something so ugly."

"Or maybe he's like me," added Clay. "I sort of like the feel of hiccups. Helps wake you up." Raimundo looked rather bewildered.

Several miles ahead of them, Jack finished attaching a thin but strong tightrope from one end of the canyon to the other. Vlad and Tubbimura looked fearful as they saw Jack prepare to walk across it, but Katnappé watched, eating from a bag of popcorn.

"I can see that dragon coming!" Jack yelled to his companions. "You know what to do!"

"I don't know!" Vlad whimpered. "This evil plan feels like old cartoon!"

Jack pointed angrily to a large pile of anvils beside them. "Hand me one of those things so I can drop it on their heads! Get two if you have to!"

"Vlad's right," Katnappé said. "You know how well these plans go in cartoons, don't you?"

"My attention span wasn't that long as a kid; I lost interest before I'd see how villainous plans concluded," Jack replied haughtily. "Besides, this is real life; I'm sure things will go differently."

He walked across the tightrope until he was halfway across the canyon. Jack held his hands out as two of his Jack-bots lifted an anvil from the pile and floated towards the evil genius. Vlad and Tubbimura covered their eyes as the robots prepared to hand the heavy object to their master.

"Here they come! Hand it to me already!" Jack yelled.

The robots did as they were told and dropped the anvil into Jack's hands. The weight was too much for the tightrope, causing Jack to scream as it stretched all the way down to the ground. Jack saw Dojo and his passengers fly over him; it was apparent that they had not noticed him. Eventually, Jack reached the floor of the canyon and placed the anvil down on the ground. In front of him he saw a slender brown and white streaked bird with large feet and long legs; a roadrunner.

"Oh, I think I can remember how this plan turned out in the cartoon!" Jack exclaimed to himself, frightening the bird away. "I've just got to let go of this anvil so I can concentrate."

Jack was suddenly sent flying up in the air, like a catapult, as the tightrope returned to its original position. "Life imitates art," Katnappé said, watching Jack zoom through the sky through a pair of cat themed binoculars.

* * *

><p>Later that day, after recovering from his impromptu flight back in his evil lair, Jack Spicer stood in the centre of a circular metal platform and waited while keeping his arms outstretched to his sides. He was dressed in a skin tight spandex garment that covered his entire body except for his face, patterned with circuit board like markings. As he stood like a statue, miniature Jack-Bots took his measurements with measuring tape and laser pointers.<p>

The platform began to rotate, almost knocking Jack off balance, while giving him a full view of the computers of his evil lair making the necessary calculations for the task at hand. The platform came to a halt when what appeared to be a large ray gun lowered from an opening in the ceiling, aimed directly at Jack's posterior.

"When it comes to making a costume, you always have to start with the seat of the pants," Jack lectured to an audience of none, simply because he liked the sound of his own voice. "Even if it's a teeny tiny bit uncomfortable, the whole outfit fails. I want to run fast, kick butt and look cool without any Shen Gong Wu! I can't afford to use any more because I keep losing them!"

Jack was silenced by the sound of the ray gun booting up and suddenly firing an intense green beam of light at his rear end, causing the boy genius to wince. On a large computer monitor beside him, a computer generated image of Jack's buttocks began to appear slowly, starting with a wireframe model. The virtual buttocks rotated on screen as they took shape; the point of view zooming in and out. Jack briefly tilted his head to the side and stared at his virtual posterior in admiration.

"Not what I wanted to see in the morning," muttered Katnappé's voice from out of Jack's field of vision.

At first, Jack squealed in surprise, but then he became annoyed. "Of course you don't want to see it!" he snapped, "It's a top secret project! My butt, I mean, my eyes only!"

"Butt scan complete," droned the feminine voice of the supercomputer, making Katnappé burst out laughing.

The feline thief laughed even harder when the main monitor displayed an intricately detailed model of Jack's behind, massive in size. The computer generated image seemed to pulse and jiggle, as if the rendering was trying far too hard to be lifelike.

"Guys, come quickly!" Katnappé yelled up the stairs to where Jack's other cronies were. "Jack has an amazing top secret plan for us all to see!"

A parade of villains consisting of Chameleon-Bot, Vlad, Le Mime and Tubbimura stampeded down the stairs into the basement lair. The Cyclops, too large to fit through the door, simply peered into room. The villains immediately began to point and laugh at the computer generated buttocks, causing Jack to stop the machine from scanning his body in a fit of embarrassment and anger.

Even Le Mime's mimed laughter was getting on Jack's nerves. The Cyclops's idiotic chortling was shaking the very foundations of the house as he pointed a giant red finger into the basement lair. "Big butt!" he snorted.

Jack was heartbroken. "His first words…" he muttered almost silently, "I didn't want it to happen like this."

The villains resumed their laughter, but Jack snapped his fingers with a scowl. Several Jack-Bots burst into the room, laser cannons blazing, driving the villains out of their master's workspace. Jack sighed as he surveyed the collateral damage that his machines had caused.

"If they hadn't laughed at me, this place would've stayed clean," he mumbled before the scanner continued analyzing more of his body. "What does it take for me to get some respect?"

* * *

><p>Later that day, high above the clouds, the four Xiaolin Warriors soared on the back of Dojo once again. Sitting at the front, Raimundo had the scroll of the Shen Gong Wu open before him as his allies peered over his shoulders to take a look.<p>

"Our next Shen Gong Wu is the Sleeping Lion Pillow. Looks pretty comfy," the Shoku Warrior leader said as he eyed the mystic text.

"I remember that one," Dojo added. "Without it, Dashi wouldn't have had the inspiration to perform his great feats of courage and ingenuity!"

Omi stood up immediately. "I must claim the Sleeping Lion Pillow!" He announced. "Perhaps then I will find an inner strength similar to the power displayed by Clay during our last great quest!"

Clay chuckled softly. "Now now, don't start thinking that it'll let you plan when to be a Shoku Warrior."

"The strength sort of just comes to you," added Kimiko. "You've just gotta be yourself! It could happen at any time."

Dojo turned sharply towards a wide and deep fissure, causing the heroes to grip tightly to his scales. "It's this way!"

The floor of the gorge was riddled with many craters, some of which appeared to be glowing from within. Suddenly, as though the very canyon sensed their presence, the sinkholes became powerful fountains of magma. Dojo snaked his way around the molten jets, but the monks were in danger of being thrown off from the sharpness of his manoeuvres.

Clay yelled in dismay as Dojo jerked violently; the velocity pulling his hat off his head. Raimundo, watching the brown cowboy hat vanish into the gorge below them, immediately leapt off of Dojo's back and soared towards the ground with his Shoku wind powers. Confident that Raimundo would be unharmed, the Xiaolin Warriors felt no need to cry out in alarm.

Seconds later, Raimundo soared back onto the dragon's back, wearing Clay's hat on his head. "Phew, I'm not ready for a new look just yet," laughed the warrior of earth as he reclaimed his Texan headwear.

"I thought I caught a glimpse of the Wu while I was down there," Raimundo explained. "Do you mind swooping down, Dojo?"

The green dragon gulped audibly. "Sure can, buddy," he said sheepishly before gradually descending.

He avoided yet more towers of magma, only this time they were dangerously close to the craters and the intense pressure they emitted. They kept themselves several metres away from the eruptions, yet they could still feel the force and heat of the fiery blasts.

In a few moments, Dojo found a suitable place to land. As he shrank back down to his diminutive size to hop onto Clay's hat, the heroes noticed a small stump like rock. On top of the stone was a violet pillow with a lion head design embroidered upon it in golden thread.

"Do you think Jack will be too chicken to venture down here?" Clay asked the party.

Silhouetted against a blazing fountain of magma, Jack Spicer stood on a tall rock. "On the contrary," he said boastfully. "I've cooked up something hotter than lava!"

"Poisoned cupcakes?" Kimiko asked jokingly.

Jack's mood immediately went from arrogant to angry. Vlad, Tubbimura and Chameleon-Bot emerged from their hiding places. "No, no, no!" Jack yelled to his companions. "You're supposed to let me do a cool thing!"

"Woozy Shooter!" Tubbimura used his blow horn shaped Shen Gong Wu to send a cloud of purple mist towards the Xiaolin Warriors, but the mystical gas was blown back at him by Raimundo's Blade of the Nebula. Incapacitated from the haze turning him into a babbling fool, Kimiko saw her chance to snatch the Woozy Shooter from his hand using the Silk Spitter.

Jack shrieked in dismay when he saw the weapon seized from his crony's grip. At the same time, Clay used his powers over earth and stone to shake the ground at Vlad's feet, causing the brawny henchman to toss the Ju-Ju Flytrap in the air. Omi was quick to snatch the Shen Gong Wu before Vlad could reach it again, using his head as a springboard.

"You idiots are losing our Shen Gong Wu!" Jack screamed. He noticed Clay making a dash for the Sleeping Lion Pillow and saw that the Chameleon-Bot was idling nearby, tapping its chin with its finger. The evil genius snapped his fingers and pointed at the inactive robot. "Idiot-bot; get your metal butt in gear this minute! Become a shark or something!"

The idle robot came to its senses and fell forwards, transforming into a grey shark. Clay tripped over the motionless metal fish, causing his hat to fly from his head once again. A hollering Dojo tumbled out, his body curled into a wheel shape. The dragon was rolling directly towards the newly activated Shen Gong Wu.

"It's time to save the day!" Jack exclaimed, running towards the pillow himself. "Or ruin it I guess."

As Dojo came to a rest near the stump shaped rock where the Sleeping Lion Pillow lay, Jack Spicer grabbed the Shen Gong Wu and smothered the dragon with it; the first step to beginning a showdown. "Hey you, dragon; I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!" Jack exclaimed.

Dojo squirmed out from underneath the Sleeping Lion Pillow and gasped for air before looking at his companions, who were rushing to his side. "It's too late, kids; the showdown's already begun! It'd help if you could give me something to wager, perhaps something you don't mind losing."

"Knock it off Dojo; you can do it if you try!" Raimundo yelled, handing Dojo the Black Beetle Shen Gong Wu. "It's only Jack!"

"I won't be taken lightly anymore!" demanded Jack, "I wager my Glove of Jisaku against your Black Beetle! First one to make it over the lava wins!"

Dojo gulped hard before sheepishly saying "Let's go!" The two competitors then yelled in unison. "Xiaolin Showdown!"

The floor of the gorge suddenly broke into pieces; two small chunks of rock for Dojo and Jack, two large chunks of rock for their respective comrades. Rising lava pushed them higher and higher until the entire gorge became a bubbling river of molten rock. Numerous small rock islands bobbed in the current of the flowing magma, serving as dangerous stepping stones to reach the other side of the river where the Sleeping Lion Pillow hovered.

"Gong Yi Tan Pai!"

Dojo took a deep breath before coiling himself into a spring, leaping off his starting platform and onto another. Jack teetered to the edge of his starting platform but did not have the courage to jump until he pressed a button on a wrist mounted device. Jack's body was surrounded by a crackling sphere of energy, disappearing seconds later. Jack was covered in futuristic armour that had materialized from thin air, glowing white.

"Introducing Jack Spicer's B-R-A; Brawl Ready Armament!" he announced.

"Your bra?" Raimundo sniggered, before his fellow monks and even Jack's henchmen joined in with the laughter.

Their laughter continued when the white glow faded from Jack's armour and revealed its true colours; bright pink. The colour was so gaudy that even Jack noticed it, gazing at his body in bewilderment while Dojo took the lead. "It was supposed to be red! The colour scheme must've been corrupted by the rematerialization process! I didn't choose pink!"

"Was it supposed to be as red as your face is now?" Kimiko asked.

Jack frowned and bit his lip as he gazed at the dragon ahead of him, trying to ignore the people laughing at him. Fortunately for him, the armour strengthened his legs and allowed him to jump great distances. Jack was about to catch up until a huge blast of magma shot out of the molten river, arcing over towards Dojo.

"Black Beetle!" Dojo cried, encasing himself in the dark armour plating of the Shen Gong Wu. The beetle armour managed to protect him from the intense heat of the lava engulfing him, and once the blast had subsided, he hopped onto the next platform.

"Glove of Jisaku!" Jack laughed, placing the magnet like mystical object on his hand. Dojo yelped as the Shen Gong Wu pulled at the Black Beetle armour he was wearing, causing him to fly into Jack's grasp. Jack leered right up against Dojo's face and whispered fiendishly. "Oh the things I'm gonna do to you!"

Jack began to swing the helpless dragon around by his tail before kicking him about like a game of hacky sack. The Xiaolin Warriors gasped in horror, as did Jack's cronies. "How dishonourable," Tubbimura muttered in disgust.

"Idiots!" Jack yelled at his henchmen as he continued to kick Dojo about. "Can't you see I'm winning? Cheer for me!"

He kicked Dojo onto a platform far away before hopping across the magma alone. It was not long before Jack managed to reach the opposite end of the lava river, grabbing hold of the Sleeping Lion Pillow. The environment returned to normal, with Jack holding all three Shen Gong Wu that had been involved in the showdown. Jack was about to gloat, but he saw his adversaries fly away on the back of their weary dragon before he could rub his victory in their faces. His villainous henchmen stood around him, looking revolted.

"What's the matter?" he questioned them angrily, pressing his wrist device again to cause the pink armour to dematerialize. "I won the showdown! Too bad it doesn't make up for the Woozy Shooter and Ju-Ju Flytrap you bozos lost!"

* * *

><p>Jack would not stop talking about his victory and the incompetence of his henchmen as they journeyed back to his evil basement lair. That night, Jack stood on top of his workbench, lecturing the villains who were not present on the showdown against Dojo.<p>

"Great job, Jack," Katnappé said indignantly. "You decided to start a showdown against their harmless little dragon. Were you frightened that the others would beat you?"

"It was a wise move!" Jack yelled. "Victory was assured, and I had an unfair advantage! Are you guys getting mad just because I beat up the harmless cute mascot critter?"

"Da; we are villains, not monsters!" Vlad huffed.

"You picked on someone small because you were too cowardly to fight the other guys, wore bright pink armour, and won a Shen Gong Wu that's probably useless," Katnappé chuckled. "Way to go, master of evil."

Jack clenched his fists. "Maybe I'd do better if I wasn't surrounded by a bunch of incompetent henchmen!" The villains surrounding him began to grumble before each one of them left their chairs to exit the basement. "Yeah, that's it! Get outta here! I don't need you holding me back!"

Once Jack was alone in his lair, he collapsed to his knees and sighed. "Why doesn't anyone take me seriously? I go through tonnes of embarrassment, and when I finally manage to win, I'm ridiculed even more!" he mumbled to himself.

He pulled out the Sleeping Lion Pillow and stared at it. "Katnappé's right, this lousy thing probably doesn't do anything. Sure looks comfy though." The villain sighed and rested his head upon it. "Chase Young and Hannibal Bean are better evildoers. Perhaps those Xiaolin losers would be squashed by now if I wasn't around getting in the way of other top bad guys. Maybe the best way for me to defeat cheese ball and friends would be to just stop existing completely."

Jack found his eyelids becoming gradually heavier as he inhaled the soothing aroma of the Sleeping Lion Pillow. Soon his eyes shut completely, but after a few minutes, Jack was woken up by a peculiar sound. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed the small sphere of light hovering in front of him, accompanied by the spooky Theremin like noise that had roused him from his slumber. Jack held the pillow to his face and cowered behind it, occasionally lowering it to peek over the top.

The sphere of light inflated and burst, causing Jack to shriek and scattering particles of light with a twinkling sound. Standing in front of him was a person who looked almost exactly like him, except they wore a blinding white robe and hair that had been combed flat. Jack immediately recognised the stranger as his opposite self, created from his trip into the Ying-Yang World.

Jack was irate. "Don't touch me! I thought I got rid of you!"

"You must be mistaking me for someone else, silly!" The doppelganger smiled and turned his back on Jack, showing a pair of tiny white wings sprouting from his back before turning back to face him again. "I'm your guardian angel! I just took a form you were comfortable with!"

"That's a form I'm very uncomfortable with!" Jack cringed visibly before scowling once again. "Don't make me activate my new and improved security system! I've set it to vaporize!"

The angel smiled and pressed a light switch on a nearby wall, illuminating the room. Jack squealed when he saw that all his machinery had been replaced by various exercise machines and mirrored walls. "Is this because I don't do enough exercise? I'll go to the gym more often! Please give me my stuff back!" wept the evil genius.

The angel was still smiling. "Haven't you figured it out yet? You wished that you didn't exist, so I want to show you what things would be like if you were never around!"

Jack raised an eyebrow as the angel snapped his fingers, opening a misty white portal. Jack yelped when he realized he was being pulled in, but it was too late for him to hold onto something.

* * *

><p>When he entered the portal he felt a strong gust of wind before finding himself and the angel in another location entirely. The two of them stood in the middle of a bustling market.<p>

"Well, here we are! Hong Kong!" the guardian angel said cheerfully, pointing to a market stall in front of them.

Jack looked at the numerous objects laid out on the table before him; many of them were various wooden animal carvings and other ornaments. The merchant who owned the stall was fast asleep, indicating that few people even took interest in his wares. Jack abruptly noticed a very familiar object sitting to the side of the table; a wooden puzzle box.

"Hey, that's Wuya's puzzle box!" Jack whispered, pointing to the wooden artefact and nudging his angel with his elbow.

"Since you were never born, your father never gave it to you as a gift. Since you were the one destined to open it, she'll stay in that box forever," the angel explained.

Jack looked bewildered for a moment before a big evil grin appeared on his face. "Ha! Serves her right; all she ever did after getting out of that box was double-cross me, pretty much every week!" Jack began to rub his hands together, making another realization. "And if Wuya will never be released, that means no new generation of Xiaolin losers being chosen to fight her!"

"See! The world's a lot less exciting without you around," said the guardian angel. "I bet you take back everything you said!"

Jack looked at his angel incredulously. "Don't you get it? This is great! Take me to the mountain I visited earlier today; the one where I lost that Osu Stone!"

The guardian angel smiled and shrugged his shoulders, transporting them to the mountaintop in a flash. Jack was a little startled from the abrupt transition, but soon noticed he was standing by the hole where the Shen Gong Wu had been hidden. Jack laughed evilly and reached inside, but the look of mirth faded from his face when he felt there was nothing inside.

"Tut tut, I thought you would've realized that without Wuya being destined to come back, grandmaster Dashi had no need to hide the Shen Gong Wu all over the world after he defeated her," the angel said with a chuckle.

Jack looked dejected for a moment, making the angel believe that Jack had changed his mind about wishing he had never been born. But then an evil grin returned to Jack's face. "If the Xiaolin losers aren't Xiaolin losers in this world, let me see how miserable they are without their stupid sparkly 'chosen one' status!"

* * *

><p>The angel sighed and whisked the both of them away to the inside of a huge circus tent, watching a troupe of acrobats finish their performance and make their exit. A man selling popcorn was walking across the audience, but when Jack tried to snatch some of it, the popcorn phased through his hands as though he was a ghost.<p>

"Looks like I forgot to explain that me and you can't interact with anything in this world!" the angel chuckled as he saw Jack's look of frustration. "Ghost's can't eat popcorn!"

A moment later, a man who was selling tubs of ice cream was walking across. Jack managed to successfully snatch a tub from him, making the vendor distressed, as though he had seen the ice cream vanish before his eyes. "But apparently they can eat ice cream," mumbled the guardian angel, just as confused as the vendor was.

A spotlight shone down in the centre of the stage, signalling the entrance of a new performer. A flamboyantly dressed clown leapt into action, tumbling across the stage to the sound a drum roll. After the drum roll ended, the clown sprang to his feet and raised his arms in the air, triggering a shower of sparks and the words 'Bobo the Clown' to appear behind him in neon lights. The whole audience exploded with applause, almost rendering Jack deaf.

Jack tried to ignore the din and narrowed his eyes, trying to get a closer look at the clown. He could recognise the brown hair and green eyes immediately. "Is that Raimundo?" he asked the angel with a short chuckle.

"It sure is!" replied the angel. "He's also a star soccer player too! He's pretty famous and loved by children everywhere." Surely enough, Bobo the clown began to demonstrate some impressive ball control skills, managing to score a goal against a whole team of other clowns.

The angel then grabbed Jack by the hand, making the boy genius scowl at him. "Hey, what did I say about no touching?"

"I'm going to show you what Raimundo's like when he isn't on stage," the guardian angel said solemnly.

Jack suddenly found himself and the angel standing inside a dimly lit circus trailer. Raimundo sat at a desk, marvelling at a large pile of money set in front of him. A scrawny cowering man stood in front of him, flanked by two circus strongmen dressed in tiger striped leotards.

"Raimundo gets the strongmen to intimidate people into giving him extra money for hiring him!" the angel whispered to Jack. "Then he uses that money to fix his soccer matches in his favour! He even put scorpions in an opposing team's shoes one time!"

"This is so cool!" Jack exclaimed. "You're telling me Raimundo's an evil clown in this world? I've always wanted there to be an evil clown on my side! The closest I got was a stupid mime."

"Oh dear," mumbled the guardian angel. "This isn't working at all."

Jack leered into his heavenly guide's face. "You've got to show me how nasty the other Xaiolin losers have become! I like this change!"

* * *

><p>The angel reluctantly waved his hands and transported them to video game tournament. Thousands of spectators were crowded into a brightly lit stadium to witness competitors go head to head on the big screen. Jack gleefully stared at the spectacularly violent sight of two virtual robots locked in combat, causing massive collateral damage to the post apocalyptic urban environment they were clashing in.<p>

Jack looked down at the stage below the giant screen to see the two players, sitting at their own games console and monitor each. Jack immediately noticed that one of the competitors was Kimiko, dressed entirely in black leather instead of the brightly coloured outfits she usually wore.

His guardian angel tapped him on the shoulder from behind and made him jump again. "Kimiko's a world champ of pretty much every competitive video game there is! But watch closely..."

Jack kept his eyes fixed on her while everyone was looking at the big screen, too absorbed in the action. Kimiko attached a tiny device to her games console and began to tap away at her PDA. Jack briefly took his eyes off her and watched what was happening in the video game; Kimiko's robot was suddenly equipped with far more firepower than it originally had.

"That's not fair, she's hacking the game!" Jack exclaimed, but then he seemed to be a lot happier. "That's evil!"

The guardian angel clapped his hands; the two of them were suddenly standing amongst a mob of paparazzi in the busy streets of Tokyo trying to speak to Kimiko and her father. Toshiro Tohomiko seemed a lot less cheerful than the electronics developer Jack knew in the real world.

"Mister Tohomiko has been accused of allowing the games his company makes to be easily exploitable for his daughter, letting her win every gaming tournament," the angel explained. "Few people want to buy things from Tohomiko Electronics anymore!"

"Cool! Who knew my nonexistence would have that effect?" Jack asked excitedly, much to the angel's dismay. "Never liked their games much anyway, they're for babies."

"Surely there must be something that'll make you realize how important you are to the world!" the angel exclaimed, sounding exasperated.

The paparazzi walked away, following Toshiro and his daughter down the street. The angel and Jack were left standing in the middle of the bustling avenue. "Show me how miserable Clay is! Actually, don't show me, tell me. Knowing him, it's probably pretty boring," Jack said.

The angel sighed. "Since he didn't become a Xiaolin Warrior, Clay went to college to study animal biology." Suddenly, the angel looked cheerful and gently nudged Jack with his elbow. "Bet you wish you existed now! His duties as a Xiaolin Warrior would prevent him from becoming a biologist!"

Jack huffed. "Eh, I don't really care if Clay gets a higher education or not. Dude just stands around in the background. Could you show me how Chase Young's getting along?"

"But isn't there another Xiaolin Warrior you want to find out about?" the angel asked desperately.

"Show me Chase Young!" Jack snapped. "Or I swear I'll tear your tiny wings off!"

* * *

><p>The angel flinched, and the two of them were instantly transported to a foreboding looking mountaintop, overlooking a massive inferno. Chase Young stood amongst his army of jungle cats, proudly surveying the damage he had caused. At his side stood Katnappé, who handed the Heylin warrior a bowl of his Lao Mang Long soup.<p>

"Without Wuya, Chase young simply waited in the shadows for a time to begin his world domination. Isn't that what you wanted to do, Jack?" the guardian angel questioned.

Jack completely ignored the heavenly guide's words and continued to admire Chase. "Not surprised Ashley got to be his apprentice, but I suppose they're both cat lovers," Jack said with a shrug. Jack noticed the familiar looking dragon tail sticking out of the bowl of soup and laughed. "Sweet, he managed to make Dojo into soup!"

"Well, I guess that's it," the angel sighed, turning his back to Jack as Chase and his army marched on. "I just can't convince you about how much you mean to the world. I'll never earn my halo now."

"My lousy parents have a new gym, Raimundo's an evil clown, Kimiko's an heir to a dying company, Clay's a spineless scientist, their stupid dragon is in a soup and Chase Young is the future evil overlord of Earth! And to top it all off, I can fly around as a ghost and steal ice cream!" Jack raised his arms to the sky as if he was an almighty villain.

The angel suddenly seemed cheerful again, as if he had remembered something. "Jack, there's one more person I want to show you!"

Jack's arms flopped back down at his sides again. "Is it Vlad? Do you think I really want to see what his life is like as just a boring vendor?"

"No; it's someone you value more dearly than that," the angel chuckled.

* * *

><p>Before Jack could protest, the angel transported them to an alleyway in a dark and desolate city. The night sky was filled with rainclouds, but the heavy rain did not affect Jack and his guardian angel. Somehow Jack could still feel the cold, wrapping his arms tightly around himself to keep warm.<p>

"What the heck are we doing in this crummy old place?" Jack asked grumpily. "You've brought me here when I could've been having fun spooking people!"

The angel pointed to a soggy looking cardboard box in the corner. Jack narrowed his eyes to see what was inside and gasped. Out of the box crawled the unmistakable form of Omi, although he was dressed in filthy rags and his bald head seemed weathered from living rough on the streets.

"Since the Xiaolin Temple never looked for any chosen ones, poor orphan Omi ended up on the streets," the angel explained as Jack stared at the street urchin in awe.

Omi was fighting against a stray cat for a scrap of food, barking like a dog on his hands and knees. Eventually, the cat ran off with a majority of the scraps. The angel grinned as he witnessed tears welling up in Jack's eyes.

"No, no, no! He's just a kid! I don't want this to happen!" Jack Spicer wept, dropping to his knees. "I can't stand the little cheese ball, but at the same time he gave me something to fight for! The other Xiaolin losers would say some pretty mean stuff to me, but when Omi tried to, he'd mess up super bad!" Jack turned to his angel guide with a sad puppy dog expression. "It would help soften their blows."

The angel was moved by Jack's empathy for the homeless Omi, who was now being mobbed by crows as he returned to his cardboard box. "Surely that isn't the only reason why Omi is special to you," he said, trying to prompt more emotions from the evil genius.

"You're right!" Jack exclaimed, looking cheerful but still teary eyed. "If I remember correctly, he'd be a kind of a jerk to the other monks too! He'd screw up and they'd have to bail him out! Dumb kid thought he'd be able to meet his future self if he waited for a long time frozen in ice and he ended almost tearing the universe apart!" Jack puffed his chest up with pride. "Even I don't screw up that bad! He made me feel a little more confident about myself!"

Jack noticed that the angel looked like he wanted him to say more. Jack dried his eyes and began to appear somewhat bashful as he remembered one more thing about Omi. "Is there one more thing you'd like to say?"

After a moment of hesitation and looking down at his feet, Jack replied. "Yeah, there is. After I helped them defeat Wuya when she became all powerful and fleshy, Omi wanted me to join them. Being a good guy is boring, so it was a definite no-no from me, but the little cheese ball's face..." Jack trailed off as he watched the homeless Omi fall asleep in his box.

"I remember that!" the angel said. "You said you'd go out for ice cream some time, when there wasn't any Shen Gong Wu to fight over."

"Yeah, you're right!" Jack exclaimed. "We never did have that day together. I kind of wanted that to happen sometime. I guess it was one of the main reasons I continued fighting them, even though I never win! I'm still holding out for some ice cream."

"But as a poltergeist, you can have all the ice cream sundaes you want in this Jack free world!" the guardian angel exclaimed, raising his army to the sky to mirror what Jack had said earlier.

"That's true," added Jack. "But there's one thing wrong with this world. It's like designing an evil costume; if there's one tiny flaw, the whole outfit fails. That's why you've got to start with the seat of the pants."

The guardian angel looked slightly puzzled about the evil boy genius's statement. "Uh, it's very good you've learnt your lesson, Jack! Are you ready to wake up now?"

Now Jack appeared to look confused. "What do you mean?"

"Wake up!" the angel snapped, leaping forward and grabbing hold of Jack's shoulders.

* * *

><p>Jack woke up with a shriek, startling the henchmen who had gathered around him as he slept on his table. He rubbed his eyes as he looked around his evil lair, noticing everything was back to normal. From the small gathering of evildoers in front of him, Jack identified that it was Katnappé who woke him from his magical slumber. He sat upright, taking the Sleeping Lion Pillow from under his head and placing it on his lap.<p>

"You were babbling in your sleep," Katnappé explained. "It was getting on our nerves."

"You were sleep talking about pants and ice cream," added Vlad.

"I thought you'd left!" Jack exclaimed.

"Nah, we knew you'd want us back," Katnappé said slyly.

"It was the fifth time this week that you've angrily told us to leave because we were holding you back," added Tubbimura.

"Oh," said Jack, suddenly embarrassed by his earlier outburst. "Well yeah, I'd prefer it if you stayed around!" Jack looked back down at the pillow like Shen Gong Wu in his hands. "If you don't mind, I'd like to resume my beauty sleep, pronto!"

His fellow villains shrugged their shoulders and vacated the boy genius's basement. When he was finally left alone, Jack Spicer laid his head on the magical pillow and began to speak to it. "Come on! Give me another super cool inspiring dream!" he mumbled as his eyelids became heavy from inhaling the Shen Gong Wu's aroma.

* * *

><p>When he reopened his eyes, Jack found himself standing in a laboratory that was far more uninviting and evil looking than his usual evil lair. The computers and other machinery around him appeared to be made from pitch black metal, illuminated by blood red lighting. Pleased with the villainous looks of his dark surroundings, Jack observed a figure who looked very much like himself standing on a raised platform.<p>

The mad scientist, who looked very much like himself except brawnier and more handsome, was clearly the person Jack wanted to be. The dream Jack rhythmically pressed the keys of the control panel in front of him, as if playing a piano. Jack gazed up in awe as his dream self opened the ceiling to the evil lair, revealing that the sky outside was dark and stormy.

Illuminated briefly by bright flashes of lightning, Jack noticed a massive colossus of dark metal towering over him. The features of the giant were unrecognisable, but as Jack's dream self pressed more buttons, the colossus began to elevate in order to truly reveal its sheer size.

Jack noticed several glass containers light up around him, revealing objects floating in the bubbling liquids they contained. These were Shen Gong Wu, but with several wires attached to them, feeding data into the surrounding machines.

"It's a combination of Wu and technology!" Jack gasped. "Nice!"

The wires attached to the mystic items began to light up, and so did the multitude of cables leading into the metal giant's body. Numerous lines of glowing energy extended across the colossus's surface, forming patterns not unlike veins. The brawny dream Jack raised his arms in the air, and much to the real Jack's surprise, so did the massive construct in front of him.

"It's alive!" yelled Jack's dream self, before erupting into an evil laugh so bombastic that the scrawny real Jack's lungs could never hope to muster the strength to make a laugh quite like it.

Jack woke up in the real world with a huge smile on his face, tossing the Sleeping Lion Pillow aside and marching to his computer monitor. Turning the screen on, Jack was immediately faced with the computer generated image of his posterior from before. He scowled and deleted the image immediately before opening up a new document; a document of evil projects that was completely empty.

"First, let's start with a name!" Jack said quietly, chuckling with anticipation.

The evil boy genius extravagantly typed two words in huge red letters; Project Doomsday.


	5. Rewritten

Dojo was flying over the forested mountains that surrounded the Xiaolin Temple after a successful Shen Gong Wu retrieval mission. The four Xiaolin Warriors sat on his back, taking turns to look at the new mystical item. The object resembled a bronze bracelet with a large violet gemstone embedded in it; a silver serpent coiled around the magic stone.

"I wonder why Jack didn't show up to fight us," Kimiko pondered aloud, passing the bracelet to Raimundo.

"He's hinted that he's got lots of new gadgets and gizmos," the Shoku leader added, handing the Shen Gong Wu to Omi. "You'd have thought he'd be eager to show them to us."

"What matters is that the Wyrm's Whisker is safely in our hands!" Omi exclaimed, holding the item up proudly.

As they neared their destination, Dojo began to slow down. As the land below them no longer looked like a blur, the dragon spotted something shiny and red amongst the green hills. It was clearly a small, motorized scooter of some kind, lying on its side.

"That's weird," Dojo said, "Didn't know you kids had one of those, but I thought you'd have known better than to just leave it lying out here!"

The four heroes looked down to see the abandoned two wheeled vehicle themselves. "It's not ours," Clay said. "Someone must've lost it in these hills."

"I'll take it back to the Temple," added Raimundo. "It's the only inhabited place in these parts; maybe its owner is waiting there! You go on ahead; tell them I'm retrieving it for them!"

"You want to keep it, don't you?" Kimiko questioned the Xiaolin dragon of wind sneakily.

Raimundo grumbled about something before leaping off Dojo, drifting down to the scooter using his powers over air. He watched his friends soar overhead as he lifted the vehicle back onto its wheels, and once they were no longer in sight, eagerly hopped onto it.

"This is so cool!" he exclaimed, starting the small but strong motor up.

Feeling like a young child again, Raimundo sped down the small dusty road that led to the Xiaolin Temple. After a few minutes, Raimundo was approaching the main entrance. Surveying the area to make sure that none of his companions had observed his glee, the Shoku leader parked the scooter to the side and walked into the Temple grounds.

"I'm back!" he announced. "Kind of a boring trip though, no fun at all."

His surroundings were eerily quiet for a second, before he heard the familiar laughter of his friends. Raimundo eagerly ran to join them, wanting to see what they found so funny. He wandered into the great hall to witness Omi, Clay, Kimiko and Master Fung cheerfully chatting with a complete stranger.

Raimundo immediately noticed that the small boy had black leader robes just like his own, but his sash was white and decorated with multicoloured stars. He had dusty brown hair; with bangs so long they obscured his left eye.

"Hey, did you lose a scooter?" Raimundo asked. "And what's with the outfit?"

The boy's gaze briefly met with Raimundo's. The newcomer smirked fiendishly before producing an orange object from his pocket. Raimundo had no time to see what it was, as it seemed to vanish in a second. Raimundo's expression changed from puzzled to a look of irritation.

"I am super duper pleased to hear that you retrieved the Wyrm's Whisker, Brian Young," Master Fung said to the small boy. "I see that you have mastered the powers of the Ratunga Slam Meister rank quite well."

"Thanks, Fung dude," the boy, Brian, replied snootily. "It wasn't easy to overcome my dark and troubled past!" Brian seemed to say the last four words with great emphasis.

"Big deal!" Raimundo exclaimed. "You're dumb! And a big stupid head!"

"Now, now, Raimundo," Master Fung said as he skipped over to Raimundo. "Brian Young is stronger than all of us combined! You should be nicer to him. He did defeat you to claim your leader rank, after all."

Raimundo grumbled to himself as Kimiko embraced Brian, giving him a big kiss. Omi was happy that their Ratunga Slam Meister leader had retrieved the Shen Gong Wu for them, but somehow he felt like something was amiss.

"Master Fung, I feel like something is not quite right," he said to the cheerful martial arts master, tugging at his sleeve.

Master Fung gave Omi a huge grin. "Oh Omi, it must be from when you betrayed us to join Chase Young! You were hopped up on Heylin power, but luckily Brian saved you and the world from his evil father!"

Omi seemed to remember it well, but still felt troubled. He briefly looked at Clay, who had been standing still in the background the whole time, completely silent and expressionless. Brian walked past him and patted him on the shoulder.

"Let's call it a day, Xiaolin Warriors!" he proclaimed as his comrades blindly followed him to their sleeping quarters.

Instead of heading off to bed, Omi immediately marched off in search of Dojo. The Xiaolin Dragon of water eventually found his green scaly friend sleeping in the garden, rousing him from his slumber with a gentle pull on his tail.

"Dojo, my mind is most troubled," he whispered as the dragon uncurled himself. "My memory is hazy and I fear that Brian's father, Chase Young, has invaded them in some unpleasant manner!"

"What do you want me to tell you, child?" Dojo said, curling himself over affectionately around Omi's head.

Omi was mildly perturbed, but continued to speak. "I have difficulties remembering how Brian joined us and ascended to Xiaolin leader. I fear that Chase Young has tampered with my memories of his son as part of his dark and convoluted plans!"

"I remember it like it was yesterday!" Dojo said with a smile. "Shortly after you beat that giant snowman, Brian came and helped us deal with that meddlesome mermaid! That's when me and Master Fung realized he was the Xiaolin Dragon of awesomeness; the fifth element!"

The Xiaolin Dragon of water smiled, remembering everything. "Brian saved Kimiko's father from Pandabubba, defeated the Heylin Plant and saved the world from Chase Young's reign of terror!"

As Omi reminisced about the events, he saw the images of them clearly in his mind. He saw Brian defeating Pandabubba in a Xiaolin Showdown inside a computer game, making Kimiko fall deeply in love with him. Then he saw Brian push the incompetent Raimundo out of the way and use the Moonstone Locust Shen Gong Wu to vanquish the Heylin Plant. Finally, he saw Brian defeat Chase Young and ascend to the rank of Ratunga Slam Meister, instantly skipping the Shoku Warrior stage between it and Wudai Warrior.

"Thank you Dojo," Omi said with a bow. Dojo giggled girlishly as the bald monk walked to the sleeping quarters.

When Omi was gone, Dojo dropped his over affectionate, out-of-character facade and produced a green gemstone Shen Gong Wu; the Memo Emerald. "I hope this plan works..." Dojo briefly noticed Brian peering out of a window and quickly coiled himself around the Shen Gong Wu before the boy could see anything.

Unfortunately, Brian had seen enough. He walked over to Dojo as he pretended to sleep, pulling out the mysterious orange object from his pocket. The item resembled a glowing feather, only its shaft had been modified to resemble the tip of a fountain pen.

"What the heck?" Brian muttered, thinking the dragon was asleep. "I thought I wrote enough!"

With a wave of the quill, an orange ghostly image began to project from Dojo's forehead. The little dragon shut his eyes even tighter and twitched as Brian began to write upon the image, which resembled the page of a book. The words upon it described exactly what had happened in the past few moments, written like a story. Brian used the orange quill to cross out some of the words and write his own words, before placing the item back into his pocket. The page of writing from Dojo's head vanished into thin air.

"That should do it," Brian mumbled, followed by a small snigger.

When Brian had walked away, Dojo reopened his eyes. He placed his fingers on his forehead and winced, before smiling and lying back down again. "Yes! They're still in there."

* * *

><p>Morning came, and with it, another Sheng Gong Wu had revealed itself. Dojo burst into the dining hall, covered in an itchy rash. The heroes and Brian briefly moved their breakfasts away from the table to avoid any shed scales as Dojo scooted around in front of them. The painful itching was making it hard for Dojo to keep his facade up, but the dragon managed it.<p>

"We've got another Wu alert, children!" he squealed. "It's the Chrome Copycat!"

"The what?" Brian asked.

Master Fung leapt into the room, holding the ancient scroll of the Shen Gong Wu. "Ah yes, the Chrome Copycat; a most difficult Shen Gong Wu to master. It possesses the ability to assume the form and powers of any Shen Gong Wu in its vicinity."

"That sounds dumb!" Raimundo snapped. "Let's go get this big stupid head Shen Gong Wu and get back to our dumb home, before big stupid head Spicer shows up!"

"Rai, you should stay here," Kimiko said. "We don't want you jeopardizing the mission!"

Brian panicked a little bit and stopped Raimundo from leaving. "No, no! It's all okay, he can come with us! I'm still feeling weak from the showdown with my father; we need Rai's wind element, even though he is pretty dumb."

"You're the dumb one!" Raimundo yelled. "And a big stupid head too!"

In the Temple courtyard, Dojo expanded to his full size and the five Xiaolin Warriors leapt onto his back. All of them seemed eager to get to the Shen Gong Wu, but Omi seemed disheartened. Kimiko looked back at him and patted the unhappy monk on his knee.

"What's the matter, Omi?" the warrior of fire asked him.

"I agree that Raimundo is a buffoon, but he is a Shoku Warrior," Omi replied. "But I am the one stuck behind; I am still a Wudai Warrior."

Kimiko smiled. "Slow and steady wins the race! You'll get there eventually; maybe you'll even become a Ratunga Slam Meister!"

Her words had cheered Omi up a little, but there was something troubling him. He felt like he could never attain Ratunga Slam Meister status, not because he did not have the skills for it; it felt like the rank did not exist.

* * *

><p>As Dojo reached their destination, the Xiaolin Warriors spotted an unusual sight. Several huge boulders floated in front of them, slowly rotating in the air. They were nearing an enormous and deep crater, over which dozens of more boulders hovered in midair. Some of the gigantic, gravity defying rocks had trees and other greenery clinging to them.<p>

"Grandmaster Dashi always told me to hide the weirdest Shen Gong Wu in the weirdest places! That scamp!" Dojo exclaimed tunefully.

The dragon swooped down and dropped his passengers off at the edge of the crater. In front them they saw the unmistakable glint of a Shen Gong Wu, positioned on a boulder floating almost directly above the centre of the massive hole. They would need to leap from boulder to boulder in order to reach it.

Brian, after seeing the considerable work that the heroes would need to do, immediately began to feign a leg injury. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to grab the Shen Gong Wu without me!"

He was acting overdramatically, but the Xiaolin Warriors believed every word he said. "But you're the dragon of awesomeness!" Kimiko exclaimed, giving Brian another kiss and a hug.

"It's only Jack!" Brian said, blushing.

The Xiaolin Warriors were suddenly alerted by the sound of laughing, and a dark figure hopping from rock to rock. Using the Falcon's Eye Shen Gong Wu to see across the great distance, Omi saw that it was Katnappé and alerted the others of her presence.

"Katnappé eh?" Kimiko said. "I'm not surprised that a cat themed Wu caught her interest."

Brian seemed to be somewhat irritated. "Katnappé? I wanted it to be Jack!" His four teammates looked at him with puzzled expressions; it sounded like Brian was eager to see the evil boy genius.

Omi turned to Clay, who had remained completely silent since they came to the Temple with the Wyrm's Whisker. "Clay, you can use the boulders to your advantage using your Shoku Jupiter Earth powers!" he yelled to the unusually quiet cowboy.

Clay began to vibrate violently, staying completely expressionless. Suddenly he opened his mouth and yelled at the top of his voice. "Yee-haw; Texas chilli cook off!"

The warrior of earth summoned a boulder towards him and used his powers to form a bridge from them. With each jump Clay made, he yelled "Yee-haw" which was sometimes followed by another stereotypical cowboy phrase. At one point, instead of moving one of the floating rocks from out of his path, Clay drilled through it using his teeth and out the other side, and spat fragments of stone out afterwards.

Katnappé slowed down to observe the Xiaolin Warrior of earth for a few moments, even as he was reaching the Chrome Copycat's boulder. "Uh, are you feeling okay?" she asked her adversary, although she was fairly sure he was not listening to her.

"He may be dumb, but he isn't a stupid head!" Raimundo yelled. "Go for it, Clay!"

"Yee-haw!" Clay exclaimed. "Shoku Jupiter Earth!"

Clay tossed several boulders at Katnappé, but although it startled her greatly, she gracefully leapt to some neighbouring rocks. The gravity defying boulders collided with each other like billiard balls, scattering in many directions.

"Hey, watch it!" Katnappé shouted. "I know I've got nine lives, but I'd be really mad if I lost one!"

"Yee-haw! Remember the Alamo!" Clay boomed, shattering a rock into pieces.

Katnappé hastily activated the powers of her Shen Gong Wu, the Ruby of Ramses, to move the boulders herself. Clay was also pushed further away, clinging onto the boulder he was standing on tightly. The feline thief smirked, using the red crystal Shen Gong Wu to levitate the boulder that carried Chrome Copycat towards her.

"Purr-fect!" Katnappé could see the mystical object clearly; it resembled a small statue of a cat, one front paw raised and a cheerful expression on its face. Its surface was shiny and very reflective, earning it its name.

"Yee-haw!" Clay leapt towards Katnappé as she was distracted by the Shen Gong Wu's sheen, punching her directly in the face.

Katnappé was sent flying with a large bruise on her cheek, but activated the Crouching Cougar in mid air and used the bestial vehicle Shen Gong Wu to hop from boulder to boulder in order to retreat. The Xiaolin Warriors all cheered except Omi, who thought Clay's actions were wrong somehow.

"You guys are insane!" Katnappé shrieked, nursing her aching face. "I thought that jerk said he'd never hit a girl!"

Omi watched Katnappé and the Crouching Cougar gallop off into the distance before turning back to Clay, who was now hopping towards his comrades with the Chrome Copycat. Clay handed the Shen Gong Wu to Brian, before resuming the eerie silence from before.

"Are you okay, Omi?" Brian questioned the monk.

"I am finding things most peculiar," Omi replied.

"You're right!" Brian added. "Jack didn't show up again!"

Dojo expanded to his full size and positioned himself in front of the group of heroes. "We better get home quickly; don't want to miss bedtime! Brian can stay up as late as he wants though!"

"But we have plenty of time!" Brian exclaimed.

Dojo scooped the five warriors up with his hand and placed them on his back. They had no time to complain as the dragon took off and reached full speed, far quicker than usual. Even after the long flight back to the Xiaolin Temple, it was still not the evening.

* * *

><p>Once again, Omi felt troubled, and began to seek Dojo once again. Unable to find the small dragon anywhere, the warrior of water walked to his sleeping quarters, hoping that a quick nap would ease his troubled mind.<p>

When Omi laid his head on his pillow, he felt something small, hard and uncomfortable underneath it. Omi lifted it away to find the Memo Emerald Shen Gong Wu, which had been positioned under the pillow's centre. He was not quite sure why it was there, but Omi knew the mystical objects purpose; the Memo Emerald could create an interactive recording. Dojo had previously described it as functioning like a sticky note to remind you of something, only that it was possible to have an argument with the recording.

"Perhaps someone is trying to remind me of something!" Omi whispered.

The Memo Emerald began to glow, projecting a small green image several inches above where it stood on the floor. The image became more defined, eventually becoming a tiny holographic Omi. "Ah, it's me!" the image of the water monk said, sounding relieved.

"You are certainly a pleasant shade of green!" the real Omi said with a grin.

"No time for compliments!" the hologram snapped. "You are in grave danger, Omi!"

Omi seemed puzzled. "But the Temple is very safe with Brian Young around to protect us! Evil fears his powers of the awesomeness!"

The hologram looked sullen. "That is the very reason why you are in danger! Brian Young is not the person you think he is."

"Nonsense!" Omi said haughtily. "We have known Brian for many, many months!"

"That is what he wants you to believe!" the hologram shouted. "You created this recording before he tampered with your memories! He somehow possesses a Shen Gong Wu capable of doing such a thing!"

Omi looked sad for a few seconds, but then laughed apprehensively. "That is not true, Brian is my friend. He would never do such a thing! Raimundo probably would, however. He would call me dumb and a big stupid head too!"

"No he would not," his hologram said grimly. "Brian has altered your friend's memories too, and has left their personalities as mere shadows of their former selves, so he could fit himself into everyone's lives!" The Omi image began to look around hastily. "I am not sure if his name truly is Brian Young."

Suddenly, Omi felt the memories flooding back to him. Brian Young did not feature in any, but Omi could now remember how it all started. "He came into the temple while Raimundo was bringing back that scooter! It seems that this recording has jogged my memories!" Omi's excitement about his recovered memories faded and was replaced with sadness. "But I don't want to believe that. Brian is still my companion! I can't decide which memories I want to be true!"

The hologram suddenly disappeared, and the Memo Emerald ceased its glowing. Omi knew that if he showed the Memo Emerald's recording to his friends, their true memories would awaken too. He feared that Brian was close by, watching his every move. He needed to think of a way to discretely show the hologram to everyone without getting caught. Omi remembered the Shen Gong Wu that they had recently found; he knew there was a way to use it to his advantage.

In the middle of the night, the Wudai Warrior of water exited the Shen Gong Wu vault and headed to the monks sleeping quarters. After he re-emerged from the room, Omi turned around to find Brian standing behind him, holding his quill like Shen Gong Wu. "I'm sorry, Omi, but you're gonna have to forget what you just saw."

Omi scowled and immediately assumed a fighting stance. Brian cringed, as though he was unable to defend himself. "I do not know what you are talking about, but I do not like being followed."

"I know what you did," Brian said with a sneer. "You figured out how to counter the effects of my Quill of Fenghuang!"

Omi grinned before leaping over the boy's head, landing behind him. Brian turned around hastily, frightened by Omi's display of superior martial arts. "It seems that physical evidence of someone's true memories can dispel the magic!" Omi took the Memo Emerald out of his pocket. "I will need to show this to my friends, and return them to their true selves!"

"I've planned this for so long!" Brian said angrily. "You're not going anywhere!" He began to use the feather Shen Gong Wu to write in midair; Omi froze in place as Brian accessed his memories. "I can use this quill to control everything your brain does! I'll just need to lock you up for a little while so I can make sure you haven't been fooling around elsewhere."

Brian released Omi from his control, leaving the water monk with a throbbing headache. Omi saw Brian walking away, but before he could subdue him, his vision turned black.

* * *

><p>The Xiaolin Warrior rubbed his eyes and opened them again, this time realizing he was standing in some sort of small farm. It was also daytime, but the sky was completely grey with clouds.<p>

"Did I fall asleep?" he asked, whispering to himself.

"There you are, Omi!" said a familiar voice.

Omi turned around to see a man with long black hair walking towards him; Chase Young. However, instead of wearing his usual Heylin Warrior armour, he was wearing a blue Xiaolin Warrior garment. The water monk gasped, but then smiled, greeting Chase like a long time friend. Omi knew he was in some sort of dream, but he suddenly felt like he did not want to wake up.

"I am sorry, Master Monk Chase, I feel like I haven't been myself recently," Omi explained to the ancient fighter.

"We're all not feeling quite ourselves," Chase replied remorsefully. "It'll take some time for us to accept that he's gone."

Omi noticed he and Chase were standing in front of a statue of Master Fung. The Wudai Warrior of water immediately realized he was inside the memories he had of the alternate timeline he created, but Omi thought those memories had been erased when the timeline was restored to order. Brian had used the Quill of Fenghuang to lock Omi in the deepest part of his mind, and Omi was too overwhelmed with the recreation of his memories that he did not want to escape.

Dojo slithered into view, twitching with the activation of a Shen Gong Wu. "The Quill of Fenghuang has revealed itself!" he yelped.

Omi was startled from Dojo's sudden appearance and the name of the familiar mystical item. "Dojo, what was the last Shen Gong Wu we retrieved?" Omi questioned the diminutive dragon.

Dojo looked baffled, but then seemed cross that his friend had asked such an obvious question. "You won it in a showdown yourself! It was the Lunar Locket! Did you get snow in your brain?"

Omi remembered what Dojo had said back in the real world, the one where Brian existed. Brian had supposedly joined the Xiaolin Temple after Omi had defeated the giant snowman, Raksha, and won the Lunar Locket that it had used to create a new ice age. Perhaps he would find answers about who Brian really was.

"Sounds pretty fancy," said Raimundo, wearing dirt covered overalls. The other Xiaolin Warriors showed their faces, each wearing worn-out lowly farmer's attire.

"Is this one worth going after?" Kimiko asked Dojo. "Wuya, Guan and Hannibal Bean just seem to get stronger. We should save our strength and only try to get the Wu that could possibly end the world."

"The Quill of Fenghuang is a pretty dangerous Wu alright!" Dojo said, opening the mystic scroll of the Shen Gong Wu and preparing to read its description.

Omi butted in before Dojo could finish speaking. "It allows the user to rewrite an opponent's mind somehow! It can control how they think and what they do!"

"Looks like Omi's been reading ahead," Clay added, laughing at Dojo's confusion.

Dojo kept his eyes fixed on Omi somewhat cautiously as he expanded to his full size. Chase was the first warrior to hop onto his back, sensing the urgency of the situation. Just as all five heroes mounted the dragon, Jack Spicer came running to them. The Xiaolin Warriors groaned at the former evil genius, wearing bright yellow and a wide brimmed hat.

"Wait for me!" he cried, carrying a suitcase with him.

"Jack, why must you bring your belongings with you on each trip?" Chase asked.

Dojo took off to the sound of the good Jack singing a song about flying. From the looks of the other monks, it seemed this happened every time they flew. However, Jack's cacophonous singing was not enough to stop Omi from enjoying the flight. The young monk stared longingly at Master Monk Chase the entire trip.

* * *

><p>The heroes eventually arrived at a desolate lava field, occupied by a single large tree that seemed dead. As Dojo assumed his small size and the warriors hopped off his back, Omi could see the orange feather perched in its branches.<p>

But as soon as they took a step forward, the ground around them came to life, literally. Creatures of volcanic rock began to take shape and rise from the earth, followed by the appearance of Wuya. Master Monk Guan, now a Heylin Warrior, stood by her side and brandished his spear.

"You've already caused enough damage to this world, Wuya!" Chase yelled. "Using the Quill of Fenghuang to control people's minds will make no difference to you; your reign of terror already has them under your thumb!"

Wuya spoke in Guan's ear. "Do me a favour and get rid of them for me. I don't want to get dirty today."

Guan nodded and leaped forward, as fast as lightning. Chase defended his allies from the evil warrior's onslaught, while the other monks battled the fearsome rock monsters. Omi made a dash for the gnarled tree and began to climb it, but in the blink of an eye, Wuya was right beside him.

"Let's see how Chase will react to his cutest little monk facing the chop," she chuckled, forming claws of dark energy from her fingernails.

To Omi's surprise, Jack came to his rescue. "Eco friendly Jack-bots; go and help Omi out!"

Instead of Jack's usual evil automatons, these Jack-bots were friendlier looking and sported labels saying they were made from recycled materials. They were equipped with solar panels too, and had benign looking white gloves instead of mechanical claws.

They grabbed the Heylin Witch, but before she could strike them down, one of the Jack Bots produced a deckchair and a cocktail. Wuya looked mildly agitated as they forced her to sit down, but then she appeared satisfied when one of the robots began to massage her shoulders, while another played soothing music.

Jack gave the bewildered Omi a huge grin and thumbs up. Omi smiled timidly in response before climbing higher into the tree, noticing the Quill of Fenghuang was in his reach. Omi was shocked to encounter someone else in the tree's branches with him; Brian. Instead of wearing his black robes and starry sash, Brian was dressed in a worn out blue hooded sweater.

The monk was so startled by the small boy's sudden appearance that he drew his hand away from the Shen Gong Wu rapidly, allowing Brian to grab it. Brian smiled craftily and raised the orange feather in the air, calling out its name. In a flash, Omi was standing on the ground again, surrounded by his allies.

Omi noticed that Wuya, Guan and the rock monsters had vanished. "We were here to retrieve the Shen Gong Wu that had been activated! Why are we standing around?"

The water monk received perplexed looks from his comrades. "We're just stopping for a break, Omi," Raimundo replied. "It's a long way to the Gills of Hamachi Shen Gong Wu."

"I'm just warming up here because I remember the gills are in a pretty chilly place," Dojo explained.

Omi was speechless for a moment, before it all made sense to him. In the real world, a similar event might have happened. Brian had retrieved the Quill of Fenghuang before they did, and rewrote their memories so they had no recollection of the event. He looked longingly at Chase Young again, who seemed generally concerned with Omi's behaviour.

"I am sorry friends, but I must go now," Omi said solemnly.

The scenery around them appeared to disintegrate; transforming into black particles that flew into the air. One by one, Raimundo, Kimiko, Clay and Dojo disintegrated too. Soon, it was only Omi and Chase standing in a white void.

"Good luck, Omi," Chase said with a smile.

"These memories of a time that never was were meant to be forgotten," Omi said. "But I shall never forget you." Chase smiled softly once again before disintegrating slowly into black particles himself. The white void that surrounded Omi grew brighter and brighter, until the monk was enveloped in blinding light.

* * *

><p>Omi awoke with a gasp in the very same place where he stood just outside the sleeping quarters, before Brian had used the Quill of Fenghuang to trap him. His tiger instincts tingling, Omi saw Brian walking towards the Shen Gong Wu vault in the corner of his eye. Before he could run after the villain, Omi found his arm in the firm grip of Master Fung, who dragged him into the hallway.<p>

He turned around to see his comrades, but their eyes were wide and their faces expressionless. The others walked slowly towards him as Master Fung held him in place. Luckily, Omi had visited the vault before Brian had captured him, and pulled out the Orb of Tornami from his robes. He used its powers to flood the hallway, sweeping the zombie like Kimiko, Raimundo and Clay off their feet.

Master Fung's grip was too strong, lifting the struggling Xiaolin Warrior off the ground. From out of the blue, a familiar green shape darted forward and wrapped around the old master's eyes. The brainwashed Master Fung dropped Omi to the ground and tried to prize Dojo off his face.

"I'm sorry Master Fung!" Dojo wailed before turning his attention to Omi. "Omi, you've gotta stop Tiny Sim!"

Omi did not question why the dragon had not been brainwashed like his other friends, or why he was referring to Brian with such a strange name. He ran as fast as he could to the Shen Gong Wu vault, managing to outrun his zombie like companions. Finding that Brian had already opened it, Omi descended into the dark treasury.

"Brian Young, you will not treat this temple as your playing ground any longer!" Omi yelled from the spiralling staircase, pointing a finger at the villain below.

Brian looked back at Omi and grinned, removing the Memo Emerald from storage. "It's too late! I'm gonna erase the message you left on this emerald, then none of you will know the truth!"

"I already know enough, Tiny Sim!" Omi bellowed.

Tiny Sim looked shocked for a second, but then flew into a rage. "Don't call me that!" he cried, raising the Quill of Fenghuang to erase Omi's memories of it.

Omi quickly opened one of the many drawers on the wall beside him and pulled out a Shen Gong Wu from within. "Wyrm's Whisker!" he shouted, transforming the serpent on the bracelet into a whip of glowing violet energy.

A crack of the whip aimed near Tiny Sim's feet caused the diminutive evildoer to throw the feather into the air with fright. As the Quill of Fenghuang descended slowly and gracefully to the ground, the Xiaolin Warriors of water and awesomeness leapt forwards, hoping to catch it. As expected, both of them grabbed the object at the same time.

"Get off, it's mine!" Tiny Sim grunted.

"No! It is a Xiaolin Showdown!" Omi exclaimed.

Tiny Sim grumbled and grabbed one of the Shen Gong Wu from nearby. "I'll wager the Kuzusu Atom against your Wyrm's Whisker!"

"And I make the showdown into a Shen Yi Bu Dare! I will also wager my Orb of Tornami, and you will also wager the Sword of the Storm!" Omi added, hoping to use Tiny Sim's inexperience to his advantage.

"The game is snatch the Wu! Whoever grabs both of the other's Wu first is the winner!" Tiny Sim said.

"Let's go! Xiaolin Showdown!" Omi cried, enveloping the vault in white light, transforming the environment.

The vault had been reshaped into a strange sea of blue fire in a void of blackness. Stone pillars rose up from the fiery sea, with small ledges attached to them in random places. The two competitors stood on a ledge attached to two different pillars, quite a distance apart.

"Gong Yi Tan Pai!"

As soon as the showdown started, Omi and Tiny Sim noticed that the blue flames below them were gradually rising. The pillars seemed to stretch upwards for infinity; they would need to keep going up. Using the Wyrm's Whisker, Omi swung himself to another column with a higher platform than the one he was standing on previously. Tiny Sim was visibly struggling; he could barely jump to the next highest ledge on his own column, and had the Sword of the Storm and Kuzusu Atom tucked awkwardly into his pockets.

"I would have expected better of a Ratunga Slam Meister," Omi laughed, swinging to another pillar that was closer to his enemy's. "But unfortunately that rank does not exist!"

"Okay, this isn't a Ratunga sash!" the villain yelled, "It's my security blanket!"

Tiny Sim activated the Sword of the Storm, generating a large gust of wind. Removing the starry blanket from around his waist, he used it like a parachute and rode the winds to a higher place. Then, using the Kuzusu Atom, he cut through the pillar that Omi was standing on. Instead of falling to one side, the column became shorter, lowering Omi close to the sea of fire.

Omi hastily swung to a higher position using his whip like Shen Gong Wu, but as soon as he landed on another platform, Tiny Sim aimed the destructive stream of the Kuzusu Atom at him. Omi generated a large blast of water with the Orb of Tornami, which evaporated as it made contact with the deadly beam, but shielded Omi from its wrath.

"I'll have that!" Omi shouted with a smile.

The Wyrm's Whisker wrapped around the Kuzusu Atom in Tiny Sim's hand, pulling it from the villain's grip. Omi had succeeded in taking one the Shen Gong Wu from his enemy, and would only need to steal the Sword of the Storm in order to win. At first, Tiny Sim seemed furious, but then appeared upset; the showdown was tiring him out quickly. For some reason, Omi stood still and sorrowfully looked at the weary villain. The sea of fire continued to rise, but it was too far below them to start worrying about it.

"Omi, why are we fighting?" Tiny Sim asked weakly.

The false memories that he had implanted in Omi's head with the Quill of Fenghuang still existed, but Omi knew their true nature. However, they felt too real to ignore. The water monk was remembered the day he met Tiny Sim as Brian Young, the warrior of awesomeness's dark past, and the villains they defeated together as a team of five.

"You altered the thoughts of my friends without their consent!" Omi yelled, trying to ignore the memories while shutting his eyes tight.

"We've been friends for so long," Tiny Sim pleaded. "Was it really that bad? They're still your friends, and we still fight evil together!"

Omi could not remember why they had started the showdown. Tiny Sim's pleading had made the false memories even stronger, almost overpowering Omi's real memories. While Omi was trying to collect his thoughts, Tiny Sim caught him off guard with the Sword of the Storm.

A gust of wind pushed Omi close to the edge of his platform. Tiny Sim used his security blanket again to fly higher, standing on a platform beneath Omi's. While waving his arms to his sides, struggling to keep balanced in the intense winds, Omi dropped the Kuzusu Atom and Orb of Tornami. Tiny Sim used his blanket to catch the two falling Shen Gong Wu safely.

Omi regained his balance and tried to strike his opponent with the Wyrm's Whisker, but Tiny Sim managed to avoid the energy whip by mustering the strength to leap to an entirely different column. Tiny Sim was almost completely tired out, but he managed to use the Orb of Tornami to retaliate.

"Wudai Neptune Ice!" Omi yelled, instantly freezing the stream of water as it shot towards him.

Omi slid down the frozen stream, now functioning as a bridge of ice that extended from Tiny Sim's platform to Omi's former position. Omi twirled the Wyrm's Whisker around, hoping to disorientate his opponent before coming in for a final strike. The whip of violet light wrapped around Tiny Sim's body, binding his arms to his sides. The two of them were sharing the same platform, but the sea of fire below them was rising quickly.

"It is time to reclaim the Shen Gong Wu!" Omi said, "And with them, my friends memories!"

"You can't defeat me, Omi," Tiny Sim muttered slyly. "I'm the son of Chase Young! I'm the ultimate Xiaolin Dragon! I'm the strongest warrior who ever walked the Earth; you're no match!" Omi became hesitant; Tiny Sim had convinced everyone that he possessed awesome power. Instead of being sad he was fighting his supposed friend, he was now fearful.

Tiny Sim used his free hand, still clutching the Sword of the Storm, to conjure up a tornado. He used the intense windstorm to spin himself around rapidly, yanking the Wyrm's Whisker from Omi's grasp. Now holding all four Shen Gong Wu wagered in the competition, Tiny Sim smiled as he watched how Omi was blown off the edge of the platform and into the blue flames below.

Omi screamed, and in a flash of light, the Shen Gong Wu vault returned to normal. Omi found himself lying on the stairs, making it seem like Tiny Sim was towering above him. He was already eager to use the Quill of Fenghuang to rewrite the monk's memories, smiling fiendishly as he prepared to call out the Shen Gong Wu's name.

But then it appeared that he had changed his mind. The diminutive villain showed the helpless and injured Omi the Memo Emerald. Activating its power, Tiny Sim erased the previous message that Omi had left for his friends. Omi scowled as he saw the green holographic image of himself dissipate into nothing. Tiny Sim put the Memo Emerald back into one of the vault's many recesses and pointed the Quill of Fenghuang at Omi once again.

"Maybe it'd be better if I just erased you from your own memories!" he chuckled. "Then no one will remember you, not even you!"

"Sphere of Yun!" yelled a voice from higher up the stairs.

Tiny Sim was instantly imprisoned within the large sphere, finding that his Shen Gong Wu were no longer in his hands. He and Omi looked up the stairs to see that it was Raimundo who activated the mystical item to trap Tiny Sim, granting him possession of the Quill of Fenghuang.

"How did this happen?" Tiny Sim growled, pounding the walls of his spherical prison with his fists. "I got hold of the message before little cheese ball could show it to you!"

Raimundo smirked and revealed the Chrome Copycat Shen Gong Wu. The cat statue changed its shape until it resembled the Memo Emerald, albeit entirely silver instead of green. The replica Memo Emerald projected an image of Omi explaining Tiny Sim's trickery.

"Omi created a backup message by using the Chrome Copycat to replicate the effects of the Memo Emerald!" Kimiko explained.

Raimundo approached the sphere shaped prison. "Just who are you, Tiny Sim? Why did you go through all the trouble of writing yourself into our lives? Are you a crazy fan boy or something?"

Tiny Sim sighed. "I wanted to see Jack Spicer," he replied. "I waited for so long after I got the Quill of Fenghuang, but never got the chance! I thought that if I joined you, I could then betray you and leave you all as cowering wrecks!"

Raimundo and the rest of the Xiaolin Warriors were taken back. "So you joined us…because you actually wanted to be with Jack?"

"By messing up your memories, I'd be evil enough to meet the greatest super villain of all!" Tiny Sim growled.

"So Jack actually has a fan?" Kimiko asked. "To be honest, I think I'd prefer it if you were one of our creepy fans."

Clay and Dojo came down the steps, with the warrior of earth managing to carry the red scooter. "I guess this is your ride home," he said, setting the scooter down beside the boy in the bubble.

Omi managed to get to his feet, happy to see all of his friends were back to behaving like their usual selves. "I am glad that you managed to find the Chrome Copycat and restore your brains to their proper functions!"

"You can thank Dojo," Clay said, pointing to the proud looking dragon sitting on his shoulder. "For some reason he was never affected by Tiny Sim's brainwashing!" Clay began to roll the sphere containing the villain out of the Shen Gong Wu vault, still trying to ineffectively break out of the prison.

"Dragon memories are written differently to human memories!" Dojo explained. "I was worried that Tiny Sim would eventually figure that out though."

Raimundo put a hand on Omi's shoulder. "You'll be pleased to hear that Master Fung's back to normal too! In fact, I think he has a few things to say to you!" the Xiaolin leader said.

* * *

><p>The Xiaolin Warriors were soon in the main hall, standing in front of Master Fung. They were relieved to see that his personality was back to normal, and Dojo appeared to be coiled around his shoulders in a more loving way than usual.<p>

"Although we have little recollection over what happened, you managed to free us from dangerous circumstances," he said to Omi.

"I would not have been able to free our minds from the grasp of Tiny Sim if it was not for Dojo." Omi looked slightly crestfallen. "I apologise for not being able to win the showdown."

"But Omi, before you even got into that Xiaolin Showdown, you came up with that idea to use the Chrome Copycat as backup if you failed!" Raimundo added cheerfully.

Master Fung smiled gently. "Omi, I have known you for a long time, and over those years I have seen many great achievements."

"You won the first Xiaolin Showdown we experienced!" Kimiko added.

"You travelled to the past to meet Dashi and help us beat Wuya, Chase Young and even Hannibal Bean!" Clay said.

Raimundo looked shy and apologetic. "You'd always trust us, even if we went astray."

"But at the same time, I have caused many problems for you all," Omi said. "I have rushed into things without thinking, fell victim to villainous trickery and once even stood on the side of darkness. I am sure you are tired and sick of me messing up."

"But after all the times you failed, you managed to learn your lesson each time," Kimiko explained. "We're always happy to help you out! That's what friends are for."

"The bond you have made with your companions is unbreakable, Omi," Master Fung said. "Friendship and teamwork plays an important part in increasing your powers."

Omi's blue Wudai Warrior sash began to shimmer, and then glow brightly. Omi's eyes widened as his sash became a golden Shoku Warrior sash, just like his friends.

"Finally!" Raimundo exclaimed, immediately embracing Omi before the other Shoku Warriors could. After a few seconds of hugging, the team leader let go and chuckled awkwardly.

"It appears you were more eager for me to rise to Shoku Warrior than I was," Omi said to the blushing Raimundo sneakily.

"I'm just pleased that we're all at the same level now," Raimundo said hastily. "We'll be able to kick butt more effectively!"

Master Fung smiled again. "Raimundo is correct. Now you are all Shoku Warriors, your powers will be stronger than ever," he explained. "Once you have mastered your new capabilities, you will be able to undertake your most important quest yet."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Tiny Sim was trundling through the hills and valleys on his motorized scooter. The boy raised his hood and looked back angrily at the Xiaolin Temple before looking down at his hand; he had managed to steal the Majutsu Wand after the Xiaolin Warriors had confiscated his Quill of Fenghuang.<p> 


	6. Omi's Tenth Dot

Chase Young woke from his state of meditation, sensing a surge of mystical energy from a familiar source. In his mind he saw and image of the four Xiaolin Dragons, each wearing the golden sash of the Shoku Warrior. The immortal villain stood up, reverting from his true reptilian appearance back into his human form. The jungle cats that had been sleeping around woke up, creeping back into the shadows of his hidden mountain palace.

Wuya emerged from the shadows, interested by the sudden activity. "I haven't seen you move from that spot for a long time," she said. "A new Shen Gong Wu has activated, but I guess you aren't bothered to claim it."

"The Xiaolin Warriors have somehow attained a new level of power," the Heylin Warrior explained. "I wish to witness this power for myself."

"I thought you were going to wait until they beat Hannibal," Wuya said, sounding intrigued. "I guess you're eager to see how your favourite cheese ball is growing up. You can see them if you go to the new Shen Gong Wu."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at the Xiaolin Temple, Omi woke up to enjoy his first whole day of being a Shoku Warrior. For some reason he felt a slight ache throughout his body, as though it had been stretched out. The monk of water yawned and rubbed his chin, but paused when his fingertips felt something unusual. He immediately ran to Kimiko's empty sleeping quarters and took her hand mirror, looking at his chin.<p>

"How infuriating," Omi mumbled to himself. "The first hair I have seen on my head is growing in the wrong place!"

In the middle of Omi's chin was a single tiny whisker, only a millimetre or so long. He looked at the top of his bald head in the mirror and scowled, seeing no hairs upon it. His attention turned towards a sudden burst of music from down the corridor, startling him enough to almost drop Kimiko's hand mirror. Omi carefully placed it back where it was and investigated the source of the noise.

Omi came across Kimiko in the main hall, sitting in front of a large television screen and a complex sound system. It looked like she had been toiling on it for quite a while, before any of the other Xiaolin Warriors had got out of bed. The Shoku Warrior of fire noticed that Omi was watching her and smiled wearily back at him.

"It's all done!" she exclaimed. "When Jack tried to take over the temple, he left a bunch of his security systems and computers behind when we kicked him out! I've just finished rewiring them!" Omi looked confused, so she sighed and began to explain what she had done in a simpler manner. "I thought that the Temple would need better protection. I also added a bunch of new features, like this karaoke system!"

"Did someone say karaoke?" asked Raimundo, walking into the main hall with Clay behind him.

"It was Dad's idea," replied Kimiko. "But look what else it can do!"

A simple map of the Xiaolin Temple appeared on the screen; Kimiko used a remote to highlight the room where the Shen Gong Wu scroll was kept. When she pressed a button to select it, the four of them were shown footage from a security camera in the room. Dojo was asleep on the scroll as it lay on the table; the camera could even pick up the sound of his snoring.

"How wonderful, Kimiko!" Omi exclaimed, "With this new contraption, we will be able to see any evil activity creeping in the shadows!"

Raimundo yawned loudly. "Go back to the karaoke part," he said, "I wanna have a go!"

"Me too!" added Clay. "I don't think any of you have heard my singing! Ma and Pa always said I had the best voice of the family."

Kimiko frowned, expecting that more of her friends would be interested in the security systems she had installed. Nevertheless, she switched the security camera off and turned the karaoke system on. She sat on the floor with her arms folded as Clay and Raimundo fought over the microphone and song selection, arguing over who should go first and naming the celebrity singers they thought they sounded like.

"Perhaps you should be more grateful to Kimiko," Omi said to them.

The warriors of earth and air stopped their bickering and looked at the diminutive monk. "Let's give Omi the mic!" Raimundo said eagerly. "He was waiting to become a Shoku Warrior for so long, he should be rewarded!"

"But I'm not sure if Omi knows any songs," Clay said, "I don't think I've even heard him sing."

"As long as I have the words and the music, my tiger instincts will carry me through!" Omi boasted. "You can give me a song of any type! Heavy medal! Stone and roll! Electro pup!"

Raimundo selected a random song from the list and started the karaoke system up, handing the microphone to the enthusiastic Omi. He had chosen a slow and gentle song, but Omi was still ready to tackle it. To his friend's surprise, the little monk managed to sing the song he had probably never heard before, just by looking at the lyrics and listening closely.

"I suppose tiger instincts can do anything," Clay whispered.

"Wow! He's really, really good!" muttered Kimiko.

"I can't believe it," Raimundo whispered, "He has the voice of a little bald angel."

The Xiaolin monk's singing voice put choir boys to shame, and from the way he glanced and smiled at his friends, Omi knew he was excellent. However, Omi abruptly paused to cough during an instrumental part of the song. When he resumed singing, his voice was much louder and cacophonic.

Clay clasped his hands over his ears. "I haven't heard a noise this awful since my little brother Patty lassoed the cat!"

"What happened? It was so beautiful!" Raimundo wailed.

Omi stopped singing and put a hand on his throat. "I am sorry, my friends! It seems like my vocal cords have been tampered with!"

While everyone waited for their ears to recover, Kimiko turned off the karaoke system and went back to the security footage of the Shen Gong Wu scroll room. She saw Dojo begin to twitch violently enough to wake him up. The startled dragon immediately grabbed the mystical scroll and ran out of the room, carrying it into the main hall to alert the Xiaolin Warriors.

"Hope you're all ready for your first day as a team of Shoku Warriors!" he exclaimed, unrolling the scroll to show them the Shen Gong Wu that had been activated. "The Gift of Green Thumb has revealed itself!"

Omi stopped thinking about the change in his singing voice and gazed at the magical moving illustration in amazement. The animated figure placed the small mystic object on top of its shoulder, which then proceeded to extend along the arm. "What a wondrous Shen Gong Wu! The Gift of Green Thumb can make plants sprout anywhere, in the blink of an eye!" The illustration depicted the item's owner surrounding themselves with shrubs, grass and flowers.

"You could turn a patch of desert into a garden if you had enough time!" Dojo added.

The five of them hurried outside where the dragon expanded to his full size, allowing the heroes to climb on. Kimiko tapped a few buttons on a handheld device and pointed it at the entrance of the Xiaolin Temple before they flew off; immediately the entrance was blocked by electrified metal bars that shot up from the ground. To her dismay, none of her companions were paying attention to the security system she had implemented.

* * *

><p>Dojo flew over the ocean and to a small desert island, swooping down and allowing his passengers off before shrinking down to his original size. The four warriors clambered over the large, rough rocks and small shrubs before approaching a wide circular area of level ground. In the centre was a pile of rocks, with the familiar glow of an activated Shen Gong Wu hidden inside.<p>

To their surprise, Jack Spicer made an appearance, descending from the skies with a swarm of his robot minions. "Long time no see, Jack!" Raimundo called out to the evil genius.

"Sorry folks," Jack said with a sneer, landing on top of the rock pile. "I got caught up in some evil project work! Felt like taking a break from it today, though." He noticed the gold sashes that his adversaries were wearing and suddenly looked a lot more sheepish. "Oh no, you've changed your sash colours! Every time that happened in the past, I'd notice that you'd be able to kick my butt a little bit harder than before."

"That is correct!" Omi exclaimed. "Now we are all Shoku Warriors, we are a hundred time stronger than we were before!"

"Plus I heard later on, Shoku Warriors learn some moves that can make their opponents butts literally explode," Raimundo added audaciously.

Jack whimpered in fright, gripping his posterior with both hands. Before he could turn to flee, a bright flash of lightning engulfed the area and knocked Jack off his feet and onto his face behind the pile of rocks. Standing on the mound in his place was Chase Young, eliciting a gasp from the Xiaolin Warriors standing in before him.

"I would like to see if Omi's statement is true," Chase said cunningly. "And Raimundo, I would've expected you to be a bit more mature now you are team leader."

"Wow, wasn't expecting Chase to show up," Kimiko whispered.

Chase bent over to reach into the pile of stones, plucking out the mystic green and bronze armband and tossing it over his shoulder. "You won't be having a showdown today," he said.

Jack had gotten back on his feet and raised his arms, managing to catch the Gift of Green Thumb Shen Gong Wu. "Hey, thanks a lot Chase! It's really important for us bad guys to help each other out!"

The boy genius was silenced immediately when the immortal warrior briefly turned his attention towards him before looking back at the Xiaolin Warriors. As Jack scrambled away, the four heroes assumed their fighting positions.

"Allow me to witness your new abilities," Chase said. "No Shen Gong Wu; you will rely only on your Shoku Warrior skills."

Raimundo briefly looked back at his comrades with a fearless looking smile on his face. "We can do this! Trust me; even if we lose, it'll only be a sign that we need to train more!"

Their golden sashes appeared to sparkle as they focussed their fighting energy, breathing almost in synchrony. Chase Young did not even need to assume a fighting stance; it seemed like he would be ready to counter or block any of their skills in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, the Xiaolin Warriors raced forward with a mighty yell, Raimundo leading the charge.

"Shoku Astro Wind!" the leader cried, summoning a miniature tornado between his hands and tossing it towards the Heylin Warrior.

Chase Young smiled gently and raised his palm, as though he would use his powers to deflect the attack. However, the miniature tornado dramatically increased in size, actually managing to startle the usually unwavering warrior. Chase tried to use his arms to shield himself from the blast of wind, but the tornado picked him up off the pile of stones and raised him high into the air.

Seeing Chase tossed up into the air like a ragdoll had given Raimundo's friends a boost in confidence. Kimiko and Clay looked at each other with a smile and prepared a combination attack; the warrior of fire grabbed the warrior of earth by the arm and shot into the sky with him, followed by a trail of flame.

"Shoku Mars Fire!" she yelled, hurtling towards Chase like a comet.

The Heylin Warrior was spinning wildly in the tornado, but when the flaming Kimiko made contact with him, he immediately stopped and the whirlwind was dissipated. Kimiko continued to fly past, but let go of Clay and allowed the brawny warrior to plummet towards the ground, with Chase directly below him.

"Shoku Jupiter Earth!" Clay shouted as he fell towards the suspended villain fists first.

Clay and Chase fell to the earth with an almighty bang, creating an impact crater and shockwaves that levelled the rocky landscape that surrounded the area. When the dust settled, Clay was standing unscathed atop a mound of rubble in the centre of the crater, with Chase buried underneath. Kimiko landed gracefully beside Raimundo and Omi, and a split second later, Clay regrouped with them.

With a mighty roar, Chase burst forth from the pile of debris in his fully reptilian form. "Looks like someone's lost their cool," Raimundo said with a chuckle.

"It is time for him to chill out!" Omi added, surprising Raimundo with his brief grasp of colloquial speech. "Shoku Neptune Ice!"

Chase leapt forward, attempting to evade the stream of freezing air that Omi had conjured, but it was no use. The blast suddenly grew far too large for him to avoid, encasing the reptilian warrior and the surroundings in a thick layer of ice and snow.

Chase broke free of the ice, reverting back to his human form, and wearily assumed a fighting stance. "It appears I underestimated you, Xiaolin Warriors," he gasped, trying to remain calm and stop his shivering. "But now you have spent all of your energy."

Raimundo chuckled and folded his arms while his comrades assumed their fighting stances once more, grins on their faces. "What makes you think that?"

Clay stamped his foot, catapulting the Heylin Warrior into the air with a column of stone that had suddenly erupted from beneath him. Raimundo and Kimiko smiled at each other and raised their arms, summoning a blast of fire and wind that merged together to form a tornado of flame. Chase was engulfed by the attack as Raimundo bought his hands down, summoning a gust of air from above that pushed Chase back towards the ground. The Heylin Warrior landed with another great thud, losing his balance and falling on one knee.

"I think you are the one who has spent all of their energy," Omi calmly said to the fallen warrior.

"You were right, Chase; you did take us too lightly," Raimundo added.

"Last time we defeated you, we weren't even Wudai Warriors," Clay proclaimed.

"Did you think you could beat us now we're stronger than that?" Kimiko asked.

The Xiaolin Warriors were letting their adrenaline speak for them; the thrill of the one sided battle, against a villain who had outclassed them for so long, had given them a new level of self-confidence. For the first time, they saw a look of genuine hesitation and alarm appeared on Chase Young's face.

Omi, seeing the distress in the usually composed villain's eyes, hesitated slightly. All of a sudden, a look of pain appeared on Omi's face. In a split second, there was a flash of blinding light, and the sound of Omi screaming. His friends were buffeted by a sudden windstorm, shielding their eyes from the debris blowing in their way.

When the dust settled, the area was still illuminated brightly. As their eyes adjusted to the brightness, they saw that Chase Young had vanished. Their attention then focussed on the source of the light; Omi's rear end. The little monk's nine forehead dots were glowing as well. Omi grimaced and placed a hand over the buttock where the radiance originated, blocking out the light. The illumination of the area returned to normal, and a few seconds later, Omi removed his hand from his posterior to see that it was beaming no more.

"Did your butt just light up?" Raimundo asked. "I thought I was joking about Shoku Warriors being able to make butts explode."

Dojo peered out from underneath Clay's hat. "This is pretty worrying; normally I'm the guy with the embarrassing bodily functions. Maybe we should take Omi back to the Temple and see what Master Fung thinks."

Omi blushed brightly. "We do not need to be too hasty! I am sure my body is fine! It is just having what you would call an off day!"

Dojo enlarged to his full size and the warriors hopped on. "Too bad we couldn't grab the new Wu," Clay said dejectedly once all four of them were on the dragon's back.

"It doesn't matter!" said a cheerful Raimundo. "We kicked Chase Young's butt, and it wasn't one of those last minute victories! We've proven that we're strong enough to take on anything."

As they flew away from the island, Jack Spicer and his robots wearily emerged from underneath the layers of debris they had been buried under during the Xiaolin team's battle with Chase. "I still won," mumbled the villain, holding the Gift of Green Thumb up before fainting.

* * *

><p>Chase Young had retreated back to his lair, using teleportation. He had resumed his meditation amongst the floating candles, despite the wounds he had received from the Xiaolin Warriors. Wuya approached him; raising her eyebrows once she saw his bruises and dented armour.<p>

"Looks like you weren't prepared," she said with a chuckle.

"I underestimated them," Chase replied, coldly.

A wicked smile spread across Wuya's face. "You said something like that after they defeated you last time," she said. "After you claimed Omi's essence and plunged the world into darkness. You said that Omi belonged to you forever, and they proved you wrong." Chase did not move an inch, and his expression did not change. The Heylin witch was standing behind him, pacing back and forth. "Your big plan to rule the world failed," she continued.

The immortal warrior's expression finally changed; he shut his eyes and his forehead became furrowed. "I learnt a few things about you, back in the old days," Wuya said before pausing for a moment. "You never reached the Shoku Warrior level, did you?"

"I achieved a power far greater," Chase muttered, "I drank the Lao-Mang-Long Soup. I gained the power of a true dragon."

Wuya chuckled. "The Xiaolin Dragons once struggled to fight Jack, but as their abilities grew, they started to defeat him effortlessly; it's why I decided to leave him."

"What are you implying?" the Heylin Warrior questioned her, raising his voice.

"History repeats itself," answered Wuya. "If I want to rule the world again, I'll need to accompany someone who'll be able to defeat the monks." She turned around and walked in the direction of the exit. "Someone who won't try to keep my powers locked away and attempt to pull me down to their level of depravity. Those kinds of people are a real turn off."

Chase did not open his eyes or turn to look at her, but he heard Wuya's footsteps echo softly throughout his hidden citadel. When he could sense her presence no more, the candles floating around him abruptly dropped to the floor and extinguished their flames. In a split second, Chase transformed into his true scaly form and sprang to his feet.

The monster unleashed a deafening roar that seemed to shake the foundations of his lair. His jungle cat warriors, terrified by their master's rage, quickly stood up and attempted to flee. Some managed to escape and hide deep in the recesses of the palace, but the reptilian warrior managed to grab several of them and toss them aside, sometimes swinging them by their tails. Some were thrown with such force that the columns they collided with began to crumble.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the Xiaolin Warriors were back at the Temple, concerned about what had happened to Omi. The young monk stood cowering before his bed, with Clay and Raimundo standing by him.<p>

"I am afraid I do not have the courage to do this! I am even afraid to look at my own nudity!" Omi mumbled fearfully.

"We've gotta figure out if anything's wrong with you!" Clay said. "I'm not used to looking for signs of human sickness, but I'm the best thing this Temple's got!"

"Clay's used to all kinds of gruesome stuff," Raimundo added with a chuckle. "Besides, what you've got probably isn't as bad as the stuff Dojo gets when there's a Shen Gong Wu alert."

Clay pulled down Omi's pants and gasped, taking a step back. "My goat Molly! Would you look at the size of that thing! It's glowing, too!"

On Omi's buttock was a small white circle that was glowing faintly, similar to the nine dots that sometimes illuminated his forehead. "Cool! You've got a tenth dot!" Raimundo gasped.

Omi hurriedly pulled his pants up and looked at his two allies, blushing bright red. "I must go! I shall follow Dojo's advice and speak to Master Fung!"

The young monk sprinted out of the doorway to search for their wise old mentor. Kimiko crept in shortly afterwards, looking irritated. Clay and Raimundo watched the warrior of fire head towards the corner of the room, placing a stool to reach a security camera.

"What's the big idea?" she asked Raimundo as she tended to the damaged piece of equipment. "I spent all morning working on these, and then you go and tamper with them!"

"Hey, we were doing something private in here!" the leader explained.

Kimiko finished adjusting the camera until it was working again. "We've gotta keep an eye on all the rooms in the Temple. We haven't heard anything from Hannibal Bean, and he could be anywhere."

When the warrior of fire exited the room, the warrior of wind turned to the warrior of earth and let out a sigh. "I've only just realized all the effort Kimiko's put into installing this security system thing!"

"Cheer up now, partner!" Clay said. "If it's unnoticeable, that means the system's working! Besides, we've already picked up a Shen Gong Wu today, maybe we'll have the rest of the day off! That's plenty of time to say sorry!"

Raimundo's eyes lit up. "That's it! Let's go somewhere nice for Kimiko! We can all say she did a great job, and celebrate how we pulverized Chase Young!"

* * *

><p>In the meantime, Omi sat before Master Fung's desk, explaining what had happened. "Today I woke up with aches and pains, followed by the discovery of an errant hair on my spotless chin!" He said frantically after the wise master had asked him what was bothering him. "After that, I found that my perfect singing voice had been jeopardized by my wayward vocal cords!"<p>

"Anything else, young monk?" Master Fung questioned the worried warrior of water.

"An unusual blemish appeared on my skin," Omi muttered sheepishly, in a tiny squeaky voice.

Instead of showing any signs of concern, Master Fung smiled softly and stood up, walking over to the monk and placing a hand on his shoulder. "There is no need to be afraid, Omi. It seems that as your techniques as a Xiaolin Warrior develop, other aspects of your being are developing too."

Omi was confused. "Will I become transformed?" he asked.

Master Fung's smile became more prominent. "In a way; eventually I may have to stop calling you a young monk!" At first, Omi was shocked, but then his surprise was replaced with excitement as he realized what his teacher meant.

* * *

><p>Raimundo was rummaging through his belongings, looking at all the outfits he possessed. Dojo was watching, as he had agreed to take the Xiaolin Warriors somewhere pleasant for the occasion. "Do you think we should dress fancy? Maybe Kimiko's dad can get us into some swanky restaurant!" the Xiaolin leader asked the green dragon.<p>

Clay appeared, holding the Wild West outfit that Raimundo wore when they visited his farm. "How about Big Bob's Barbeque?" he asked, "They've got all the ribs you can eat!" Dojo nodded in agreement.

The warrior of wind cringed. "I don't have anything fancy to wear, but I'd like to go to someplace a little more…dignified."

Clay scowled at Raimundo, but then turned his attention towards Dojo. "Hey look, Dojo seems real keyed up about those ribs!"

The little dragon was twitching wildly, and only Raimundo realized what it signified. "Not another one!"

Dojo pulled out his tongue with one hand; it appeared grotesquely bloated. He let go of it and let it snap back into his mouth. "Judging by the swelling of my tongue, I'm almost certain it's the Lollipop Squid Shen Gong Wu!"

Raimundo seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Sounds pretty lame, let's skip this one!"

The dragon frowned and seemed to pull out the Shen Gong Wu scroll from thin air. "It's actually a pretty dangerous one! The Lollipop Squid has the ability to suck the water out of a target, turning them into a withered husk!"

Omi ran into the room and looked around frantically. "Did I hear news of a weapon that is effective against my element?" he asked warily. "We must not let it fall into the wrong hands!"

Raimundo screwed up his face. "Oh man," he said painfully, "Now how are we gonna cheer up Kimiko? If we go and get this new Wu, we'll be too tired to go anywhere else today!"

"Why don't you just go somewhere some other time?" Dojo questioned.

"Kimiko's upset, and I don't want to see her upset for much longer," Raimundo replied, sounding stern.

"I have a plan!" Omi exclaimed. "Clay and I will retrieve the Lollipop Squid, allowing you and Kimiko to spend time together!"

Raimundo blushed. "Ugh, she might find that a little creepy, but it's better than nothing! We've gotta make it look like the trip's just for her! I'll take the Silver Manta Ray and you two ride Dojo to where the Wu is!"

"You should go someplace nearby, just in case things get ugly for us," Clay added.

Soon enough, Raimundo approached Kimiko, smiling nervously. He tried to distract her from Clay and Omi, leaving the Temple before them on the back of Dojo. "I'm really sorry about your security system," he said. "Since you spent all that time setting it up, and how we defeated Chase Young together, let's go somewhere cool!"

Kimiko's grumpiness seemed to fade instantly. "Wow, thanks! Are Omi, Clay and Dojo coming along too?"

"Nah! It'll be just me and you; I think they've got stuff to do, but they suggested that I should take you somewhere for all your hard work!" Raimundo replied, stuttering slightly.

The warriors of fire and wind walked outside to the courtyard where Raimundo activated the Silver Manta Ray Shen Gong Wu; transforming the small object into a large flying machine. Dojo had told him where the Lollipop Squid was, and then Raimundo had searched for the location on the internet. The site was near an aquarium, which Raimundo agreed was a good place to go.

* * *

><p>When they arrived, it was night time. The Silver Manta Ray landed outside the brightly illuminated building; there was a massive replica of a nautilus shell standing on the roof of the aquarium. Kimiko and Raimundo stepped out, deactivating the Silver Manta Ray and stowing it away in Kimiko's bag. As the two of them climbed the big set of stone steps leading to the aquarium entrance, Raimundo looked back and saw the unmistakable shape of Dojo land not too far away.<p>

Omi's dots began to light up, including the one on his posterior which shined brighter than the others. Dojo shrank down and climbed onto Clay's shoulder, scanning the area that had been lit up by Omi's glowing. They stood before a large but shallow pool, illuminated by lights on its tiled bottom. In the centre of the pool was a fountain that changed the patterns in which it squirted water every few minutes.

In the centre of the fountain was the Shen Gong Wu; a peculiar little golden squid with gemstone eyes, attached to the end of a short and slender stick. "There it is!" announced Omi, "This mission has been a piece of pie!"

The air was suddenly filled with a mighty roar, coming from the trees that surrounded the pool. Clay and Omi turned their attention to the strangely familiar noise, and gasped in fear when the source of the sound revealed itself.

Mala Mala Jong's supernatural green flames lit up the area brighter than Omi's dots. The ancient demon warrior stomped towards Clay and Omi, letting out a deep growl. The giant's body was made up of several Shen Gong Wu, and could gain more power by adding more mystical items to its mass; Omi feared that it would claim the Lollipop Squid to overpower him.

"I wasn't expecting this," Clay muttered, assuming his fighting stance. "Shame we don't have the Emperor Scorpion with us."

"Fear not, Clay! If you can defeat Chase Young, you can certainly defeat Mala Mala Jong!" Omi exclaimed. "I shall go after the Lollipop Squid!"

Omi ran towards the fountain, parting the waters with his elemental powers, while Clay stood prepared; he watched the demonic warrior defy gravity to walk across the water thanks to the Jetbootsu Shen Gong Wu that served as its feet. It tried to swipe at Omi using the Third Arm Sash that made one of its arms, but the monk made a speedy getaway.

"Chrome Copycat!" yelled Clay, holding the silver cat statue Shen Gong Wu aloft. It transformed into a replica of the Fist of Tebigong; one of the items that made up Mala Mala Jong's body. "Fist of Tebigong! Earth!"

Normally the Two Ton Tunic, which served as Mala Mala Jong's torso, would have deflected the mighty fist, but Clay's Shoku Warrior level had augmented his strength greatly. The demon was knocked back by the earth warrior's mighty punch, but it retaliated with a blast of lightning from the Eye of Dashi around its neck, striking Clay. The Shoku Warrior was knocked off his feet, landing on his backside in the water, twitching in agony.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, inside the quiet aquarium, Raimundo and Kimiko strolled past the various fish tanks. Raimundo was unfazed by the massive shark tank or the enormous Japanese spider crabs, but when they came to a tank filled with jellyfish, the Xiaolin leader froze in his tracks as Kimiko continued onward.<p>

"Is there another way past?" he asked her sheepishly.

Kimiko frowned and folded her arms. "Come on, Rai. They're behind thick glass."

"It's not the stings that scare me," Raimundo mumbled. "Jellyfish are creepy; they don't have brains, but they can still swim about! How does that even work?"

Kimiko marched over to him and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him in front of the animals he feared most. "Let's go see the penguins," she grumbled.

* * *

><p>Omi briefly turned to see Clay fall before continuing towards the centre of the pool, deflecting the occasional jet of water with his powers. The Lollipop Squid was in reach, but Omi desperately wanted to aid his friend in combating the giant monster. He made a decision, reaching for the Shen Gong Wu on top of the fountain. However, a dark shape swooped from the sky, and a miniscule object landed on the Lollipop Squid as Omi's fingers made contact with it.<p>

"Well well, fancy meeting you here," Hannibal Roy Bean chuckled.

Omi gasped, almost drawing his hand away from the Shen Gong Wu in shock. "Hannibal Bean; have you come here to test my strength as a Shoku Warrior as well?" Omi asked the tiny evildoer. "Chase Young did the very same thing, and he received a most shocking surprise!"

Hannibal chuckled once again. "I saw; I wanted to congratulate you. Never liked that boy, glad you put him in his place."

Omi ignored the villainous bean's compliments and scowled back at him. "Hannibal Roy Bean, as a Shoku Warrior, I challenge you to a Wei Zhi Surprise Xiaolin Showdown!"

"A bold move," Hannibal said with a sly grin. "You truly have reached the level of Shoku Warrior. The first of us to grab the Lollipop Squid and make it outside the ring wins! I'll just need a Shen Gong Wu to wager first."

Mala Mala Jong ceased its battle with Clay, stomping over towards Hannibal. Clay followed; eager to see what was happening. To the surprise of both Clay and Omi, Mala Mala Jong suddenly disassembled itself, becoming a pile of Shen Gong Wu for Hannibal to use.

"Let's go; Xiaolin Showdown!" they yelled in unison.

The jets of water from the pool extended towards the dark night sky, instantly freezing into columns of blue ice. Bridges of ice began to form between the columns, making a complex lattice structure. Omi and Hannibal stood on a circular platform floating in the water below, while Clay stood outside the ring.

"Gong Yi Tan Pai!" yelled both combatants, before Hannibal suddenly sprang forward, disappearing into the icy maze above.

Omi hopped up the icy platforms after him, occasionally catching a glimpse of the small red bean's reflection in the frozen columns. As the Xiaolin Warrior stood still, a spike of ice grew towards him from a nearby column. Omi moved quickly, jumping onto another icy bridge as the one he was formerly on was shattered. Several more spikes shot out, and Omi had to jump from platform to platform to avoid them.

He misjudged one of his jumps, resulting in him holding onto a ledge with his fingertips. Omi briefly gazed down at the worried looking Clay before turning his attention skyward, witnessing the Lollipop Squid embedded in some ice above him. Hannibal Bean made a leap for the Shen Gong Wu, but a spike of ice that shot out from the column carried the Lollipop Squid away with it as it grew. Omi pulled himself up and sprinted towards it, as it was closer to him now than it was to Hannibal.

"Third Arm Sash!" Hannibal announced, extending the claw like Shen Gong Wu towards the water monk.

The turquoise sash tied itself around Omi's ankles, winding up his leg and towards his rear. Omi yelped as he felt it pluck something from his buttock, but quickly retaliated by revealing the Shen Gong Wu he secretly wagered; the Changing Chopsticks. Omi shrank out of the Third Arm Sash's grasp and hopped out of the way before a giant icicle from above extended down and rammed itself into the space he once occupied.

Omi grew to his original size and looked back to see Hannibal Bean leap for the Lollipop Squid. Omi focussed his energy and summoned his powers over water, extending several ice spikes from the columns surrounding the fiend. The icicles were transformed into jets of water, blasting Hannibal away before he could reach for the Shen Gong Wu. Omi then shot up towards it, riding upon a jet of water.

In a flash, the Xiaolin Showdown was over. Omi had landed on the other side of the pool, clutching the Lollipop Squid as well as the Shen Gong Wu that were wagered. Clay ran over to the little monk with a grin, and Dojo leapt out of his hat to congratulate him as well.

"My unsightly blemish is gone!" Omi exclaimed, patting his rear end. "Hannibal cured me of it when he tried and failed to use the Third Arm Sash to ensnare me!"

"Sorry Omi, but I think you'll be finding more of those spots popping up for a while now," Dojo said.

"Looks like Hannibal hightailed out of here on his bird," Clay added. "He took his Shen Gong Wu with him too somehow, but without the Third Arm Sash, he won't be able to make Mala Mala Jong again!"

* * *

><p>Back at the aquarium, Raimundo and Kimiko exited the building, holding several souvenirs. "Why did you have to buy that thing?" Raimundo asked in disgust, pointing to the new pink jellyfish shaped hat on her head.<p>

"I wanted something that would make me remember this day!" Kimiko replied. "It was really nice of you to bring me here."

"I was worried you'd be creeped out by me just asking out of the blue like that," Raimundo said.

"Nah!" Kimiko said with a grin. "You wanted to go to the aquarium, and it's boring to go around an aquarium without a buddy."

Raimundo noticed Dojo taking off, but Kimiko remained unaware. The Shoku Warrior of wind smiled and sighed with relief, activating the Silver Manta Ray Shen Gong Wu and flying off into the night with Kimiko in the passenger seat.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the world, Jack was sitting in his basement, working on a document on his computer. He had been writing more of his Project Doomsday, but he had developed writer's block when he realized that he did not have some of the tools he needed to make the project work.<p>

"I gotta get the right Wu to get this baby off the ground!" he yelled to himself. "I need the durability of the Two Ton Tunic, the strength of the Fist of Tebigong, and the Heart of Jong to pump some life into it! I've gotta wait until someone wagers them in a showdown, and then somehow manage to beat them!"

"Or we could trade," Hannibal Bean said with a laugh, sitting on the table behind him.

Jack froze in his seat and slowly swivelled around to face the table. Hannibal Bean hopped onto his nose, looking at him in the eyes with a fiendish grin. The boy genius screamed, falling backwards and under his desk. Hannibal hopped back onto the table, beside a sizeable pile of Shen Gong Wu and the Ying-Ying Bird.

"Wow, really?" Jack asked uncomfortably, pulling a waste paper basket off his head and laughing nervously. "I haven't seen you in a long time, what's up?"

"Nothing much, just wanted to congratulate you on taking Chase Young's place. Being defeated by those Xiaolin Warriors hurt his ego pretty bad," chuckled Hannibal. "I doubt he'll be showing his face for a while. You'll need some help if you want to match the Xiaolin Warriors in terms of power."

"I can't believe I used to think Chase was cool!" Jack seemed to look less unnerved. "You really want to help me?"

"I know you're not going to betray me," the fiend continued, "You don't have the guts for it; but you make up for that in brains. Let's trade our Shen Gong Wu." Hannibal pointed at a small cauldron sitting to the right of Jack's desk. "I'll give you the items you need for that little thing over there."

"I didn't really need the Zaijian Cauldron anyway!" Jack said with a smile, handing the mystical item to the diminutive demon. "It can rebuild objects from the tiniest fragments, but when I tried it on some robot pieces that were left over from a fight, they didn't come out right!"

Hannibal suddenly seemed intrigued. "Please explain."

"They looked fine, but it was something wrong with their programming! I had to reprogram them from scratch! The cauldron can restore physical things, but it can't restore memories!" Jack explained hurriedly, worrying that the bean would decline his offer.

"I think I know how to handle that problem," Hannibal said, managing to lift the Two Ton Tunic, Fist of Tebigong and Heart of Jong to the eager boy genius.

Jack handed the Zaijian Cauldron to Hannibal, along with the Gift of Green Thumb inside it. "Take that thing, too! I've had bad experiences with magical plants!"

Hannibal grinned craftily. "Why thank you, Jack. You're an awfully polite young man. Have a little extra present." The bean tossed a piece of paper towards the boy genius; it appeared to be some sort of map. "I know of a perfect place where you can build your little project. It's on a ley line, full of all the mystical energy you need."

Jack blushed and put his hands on his reddened cheeks, but before he could express his gratitude, Hannibal and Ying-Ying were gone. Jack, feeling discomfort again, turned his attention to his computer and hit a few buttons. He had recorded everything that Hannibal had said, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the fiend had been truthful, judging from the computer's lie detector.

* * *

><p>Deep within his mountain lair, Chase Young had resumed his meditation. In his fit of rage earlier that day, the immortal warrior had laid waste to a considerable amount of his hidden citadel. Rubble, broken columns and shattered pieces of art lay on the floor, and jungle cats cowered in their hiding places.<p>

"Hello there, Chase," Hannibal chuckled. "Looks like you've had quite a temper tantrum."

Chase Young's eyes flicked open and he got to his feet. "How dare you show your face here, bean. Have you come to gloat about the strength of the Xiaolin Warriors as well?"

"I came to see if I could offer some assistance," Hannibal continued. "I know we've had some…quarrels in the past, but you know what? Water off a duck's back."

Chase frowned even more. "I overpowered you all those years ago. If the Xiaolin Warriors defeated me, they will surely be able to defeat you. I doubt that any scheme you have will be able to vanquish them."

"Now now, just wait until you see these," Hannibal said, producing two miniature scrolls. "If you hadn't been so eager to throw me into the Ying-Yang World all those centuries ago, I would've shown you these earlier." The crafty red bean unwrapped both of the scrolls, revealing the mystical writing within them.

"One of those lists the ingredients of the Lao-Mang-Long Soup. Do you take me as a fool?" Chase said indignantly.

Hannibal rolled the list in question out further, revealing additional writing. "It's the recipe for a more potent form of the soup; the extra ingredient turns it into a concentrated elixir. I was going to give you this once you were ready to get onto stronger stuff."

Chase Young's eyes widened in surprise, but before he could take another look at the list, Hannibal rolled it back up again. His attention turned towards the other list. "What does the other one say?"

Hannibal sneered. "Oh, that's the antidote to the Lao-Mang-Long Soup. I was thinking you'd like to go back to being a Xiaolin Warrior. Of course, you'd have to try and convince them to accept you again. You could go back and try and earn your Shoku Warrior sash, just like Guan did!"

The Heylin Warrior scowled and folded his arms. "Leave now; nothing you say can convince me to change my ways," he said sternly.

Hannibal Bean shrugged and hopped on the back of Ying-Ying, leaving the two tiny scrolls behind. "You can keep the lists. You never know if they'll come in handy!" The Ying-Ying bird took off as Hannibal began to laugh, soaring in the direction of the exit.

* * *

><p>Back at the Xiaolin Temple, Kimiko led Omi through a dark passage underneath the Temple grounds. The two of them were holding some of the most dangerous and powerful Shen Gong Wu from the vault, as well as the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman. Kimiko lit up a row of torches using her fire powers, allowing Omi to see how far the tunnel stretched.<p>

"Why are we moving the hazardous Shen Gong Wu into such an uninviting place? They were much safer inside the vault!" Omi exclaimed.

"Thought I'd make use of some of these old tunnels down here," Kimiko explained. "They've been unused for centuries."

The two of them continued to a massive round door, flanked by two statues of monkeys. Kimiko walked towards one of the statues and punched in a number on a hidden keypad she had installed. With a loud grinding noise, the four sections of the door slid apart, revealing several shelves inside.

"I still do not understand," said Omi, watching Kimiko place the Sapphire Dragon and Mosaic Scale onto a shelf. Nevertheless, he followed her and placed the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman and Shadow of Fear onto the shelves.

"I thought it'd be better if we kept the most dangerous Wu separate to the others, just in case someone raids the vault. You have to learn the password," Kimiko explained.

"I already have!" Omi boasted. "You are quite slow at typing!"

Kimiko rolled her eyes and handed the Quill of Fenghuang to Omi. "Now you've got to rewrite my memories, so I can't remember the password. Or this whole place."

Omi was shocked. "Why must I keep this place a secret by myself? Raimundo should know! He is the leader."

"If the bad guys want our secrets, they'll probably try to go straight for Raimundo," Kimiko said, placing the final dangerous Shen Gong Wu, the Lunar Locket, into the secret vault. "Put the quill in this vault when you're finished. I know you can be trusted, Omi."

Omi smiled before reluctantly using the feather shaped Shen Gong Wu to rewrite her memories, telling her to leave the secret dungeon and forget its location. "This shall be a most difficult burden to carry."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Chase Young stood at the mouth of his mountain lair. The sky was dark and still, but occasionally crackled to life with bolts of lightning. The immortal warrior looked at the bottle of liquid in his hand, catching a glimpse of his reflection inside it. Hesitantly, he removed the cap from the bottle and placed in a final ingredient; a tiger shrimp.<p>

When the shrimp was added, the fluid seemed to boil and faintly glow bright green. The bottle began to shake violently, but it was not due to Chase's hesitation. The elixir was alive, hissing and rumbling in his grasp. He felt like he would need to drink it, or else it would escape.

Chase put the bottle to his lips, then tilted his head back. After drinking the entire bottle, the Heylin Warrior allowed it to slip from his grasp and shatter on the ground. Chase fell to his knees, grasping his stomach, but still trying to keep a calm face. He began to transform into his reptilian appearance, but then shifted back into his human form again.

The pain in his stomach ceased after a few moments. He looked at his fingers and flexed them, noticing that the veins of his hands seemed to glow bright green, even through his gauntlets. Chase could feel the change throughout his body and got to his feet again.

He had discarded the list of ingredients that would undo the effects of the Lao-Mang-Long Soup shortly after Hannibal had left. Hannibal had been a fool, thought Chase. The bean had given him the instructions to make an elixir that would make him stronger than ever before; now nothing would stand in his way.

Chase Young's new; more maniacal laughter filled the air. The laughter was loud and frightful enough to be heard even as the thunderstorm over the mountains began to rage.


	7. The Xiaolin Factor

In the early morning, the four Xiaolin Warriors had been told to gather in the Temple's meditation room. Master Fung finally made an entrance, and the monks could feel the excitement building up inside them. He had told them that once they had mastered their new capabilities as Shoku Warriors, they would be able to go on their most important quest.

"You seem to have mastered your heightened powers already," he said. "It is time for you to undertake your new task; training a new Xiaolin Dragon."

There was a moment of silence; the four Shoku Warriors were taken aback. Eventually, Omi spoke up. "This is most exciting news! I wonder what kind of person he will be, and what strange attire he may be wearing!"

"Hold your horses, Omi," Clay added. "How are you sure that it's a guy?"

"Who is it?" Raimundo questioned. "Are they at the Temple now?"

Master Fung smiled slightly. "I do not know yet. It is your duty to work together to select and guide one new Xiaolin apprentice, so they too may eventually rise to become a Shoku Warrior."

"This is…pretty big," muttered Kimiko.

"Come on kids!" Dojo exclaimed cheerfully. "If Master Fung singlehandedly selected you to be the Xiaolin Warriors of earth, wind, fire and water, it should be easy for you four working together to select one person!"

Master Fung continued to explain. "Dojo is correct; Master Monk Guan and I have gathered many aspiring warriors at his temple. You will be travelling there to make a unanimous decision, but the young monk you choose must be willing to accept the role."

* * *

><p>The Shoku Warriors were eager to climb aboard Dojo and fly to Guan's Temple, but first, Master Fung assured the dragon they would not be sent away for a long time. Once Dojo was happy to leave, it did not take long for the heroes to arrive at the ancient warrior's mountain sanctuary. As they landed in the Temple's expansive courtyard, the Xiaolin Warriors saw the large congregation of young looking fighters awaiting them.<p>

"So this must've been why Master Fung went to visit Guan for such a long time," Raimundo said, referring to their teacher's period of absence shortly after the warrior of wind had been promoted to leader.

Some of the hopeful students, having never seen a dragon up close, crept away or even fell over in shock. As Dojo shrank back to his smaller size, he had a smug look about him, pleased with the fear he was inspiring in some of the hopeful warriors.

"Welcome, young monks," Master Monk Guan said as he walked through the crowd of trainees, parting to make way for him. "I assume that Master Fung has explained your important duty."

"Hey guys," said a sheepish voice from behind the martial arts master. The Xiaolin Warriors were surprised to see the familiar face of Manu, dressed in red robes.

"You may have already met some of the trainees gathered here today," Master Monk Guan continued, "But I do not want that to affect who you select in the end. There may be some new faces, with unseen abilities that you may believe are a worthy addition to your team."

Master Monk Guan walked off to reprimand some trainees who were fooling around, putting on his stern drill instructor façade. Raimundo chuckled, but then turned his attention to Manu. "What brings you here, dude?"

Manu smiled bashfully. "Well, I don't intend to be the fifth chosen one. I did pretty well on the obstacle course though!"

"Aw, you just wanted to say hi!" Kimiko said, making Manu look more sheepish than before.

There was a sudden explosion noise, coming from the direction of the obstacle course that Manu was speaking of. The Xiaolin Warriors and Manu witnessed a climbing wall topple over with a loud crash, making the trainees flee in all directions.

"Not exactly," Manu mumbled.

The four Shoku Warriors ran to see the accident, pushing through the crowd of novice fighters. On top of a pile of broken equipment was a familiar figure; El Guapo Lobo. He was dressed in red robes, but still wore the same wrestling mask he sported when they first encountered him.

"I have completed the course yet again!" he boomed.

Master Monk Guan's temple dragon Chucky Choo was sitting on a stool nearby, holding a clipboard and a stopwatch. "And it's another broken record!" he said, writing down the time. "And another set of expensive equipment broken too," he added, sounding irritated.

"What's that monster doing here?" Dojo asked, standing on top of Clay's hat.

"I thought you and Chucky were buddies again," Clay said. "I thought you forgave him for losing your yoyo and giving you a replica."

"I'm talking about that big stupid blowhard!" Dojo growled, pointing to the wrestler.

Manu caught up with them and began to explain. "After we parted ways the first time we met, I sort of changed my mind about joining you. I decided to stay at this temple, but he followed."

The Mexican wrestler loomed towards the Xiaolin Warriors, who seemed cautious about him. "Do not fear, for I have changed my ways! I am no longer El Guapo Lobo; I am Tito, Xiaolin Warrior in training!"

Master Monk Guan approached as well, placing a hand on the wrestler's shoulder. "Each time he has attempted the obstacle course, Tito has broken a record. I have never seen someone improve in such a short time; in some ways, he puts even me to shame."

"I would like the next set of equipment to be more dangerous!" Tito bellowed as a group of trainees helped to move the debris.

Omi put his hand on his chin. "I feel that Tito may be the fifth dragon we seek."

Raimundo pulled Omi closer towards him and whispered in his ear. "No way, not after the crazy things he did! Besides, we already have a big stupid muscle guy on our team." Raimundo sneakily pointed a finger at Clay.

"As much as I dislike saying it, none of the other warriors gathered here today seem strong enough for the role of Xiaolin apprentice," Guan said unhappily, casting a hand across the courtyard.

The Shoku Warriors surveyed the scene, watching the hopeless hopefuls running about. There were countless trainees tripping over each other, fumbling basic martial arts skills or being general nuisances to one another.

Suddenly, Chucky Choo slithered in front of them with his tiny arms in the air. "Why don't you let me be on your team? Wouldn't it be cool for the fifth Xiaolin Dragon to be a literal dragon?" The Xiaolin Warriors were bewildered by the fat little dragon's statement; even Master Monk Guan seemed confused by something so out of the blue.

Chucky looked around at their puzzled expressions and continued to explain. "I'm a reformed dragon, and as part of my reformation, I've been practicing some pretty sweet skills!"

"I'm not convinced," mumbled Kimiko.

"I may not be able to sense Shen Gong Wu, grow huge, or fly like Dojo, but I can do this!" the ex-con artist continued.

The dragon clenched his fists as he began to shake, and a grotesque bubbling noise filled the air. Chucky suddenly swelled up until he was about Kimiko's height, but due to his fatness, he was almost as wide as he was tall. Much to the monk's surprise, Chucky now possessed legs, although they were very blubbery.

"Neat trick!" Dojo exclaimed.

Raimundo, like his fellow warriors, had found the transformation rather monstrous. "Uh, I don't think it'd be a good idea to let you on the team if you're gonna be doing that a lot."

Chucky clapped a hand against one of his fat thighs, making Raimundo wince in revulsion as he watched it ripple. "Come on, every team needs a big fat guy to spread good cheer! It'll make the team more marketable with a charming new character the kids will love!"

"I am sorry, but the Xiaolin Warriors are a non-profit organisation," Omi said, causing Chucky Choo to sadly morph back into his original form with a comical deflation noise. "But it is pleasing to know that you would now rather make money by saving the world!"

"There's gotta be more good trainees!" Kimiko exclaimed in dismay. The warrior of fire noticed Omi's jaw hang open and his eyes widen. The bald monk pointed over to the corner of the courtyard, and Kimiko's eyes followed until she saw what he was seeing. "Wow! What about her?"

A crowd of the brawniest looking trainees were standing in a circle, surrounding a figure with long blonde hair. Unlike the other hopefuls, the girl wore a white short dress, with matching boots and a golden belt. She was sending her assailants flying, lashing out with spinning kicks. Guan quickly ran over to the brawl, causing the remaining trainees ganging up on her to flee. The Xiaolin Warriors followed him, gathering around the striking young woman.

"Thanks, Master Monk Guan," she said in a southern accent, before turning her attention towards the Shoku Warriors. "The name's Willow."

"She must've only just arrived!" Chucky added, hopping up onto Guan's shoulder. "She wasn't one of the people you and Master Fung picked!"

"I hope I'm not too late! I've heard so much about you," Willow said cheerfully. "I was hoping to compete in the search for the new Xiaolin apprentice."

Omi was enthralled by the beautiful stranger. "I sense a great fighting spirit within you, Willow!"

Tito plodded forward, puffing his chest out. "Unfortunately senorita, we have already made a decision, but it is wonderful for such a beauty to grace this Temple of rugged warriors!"

"A potential Xiaolin warrior chooses their own destiny; they do not wait for destiny to choose them," Guan explained. "Willow came here on her own volition; she is as worthy to be chosen as you are, Tito."

"I don't expect any special favours! I promise not to let you down," said a bashful sounding Willow.

"You must be highly trained in the art of blending into the shadows if you already knew all about us!" Omi said. "Such sneakiness would be most useful in our team!"

The girl looked slightly perturbed by Omi's comment, but then Raimundo chimed in. "Well, we're not exactly hard to follow; we fly around on a mystical green dragon." It sounded like the warrior of wind was trying to impress her.

Dojo suddenly slid out from between Raimundo's feet, startling everyone except Willow. The blonde girl seemed to eye the dragon enthusiastically as he twitched and writhed on the floor. Clay, who had formed a habit for dealing with Dojo's spasms, revealed he had bought the ancient scroll of the Shen Gong Wu with him to Guan's Temple and handed it to the dragon.

"We'll have to take a break from searching for the fifth warrior for now; we've gotta search for a new Wu instead!" Dojo exclaimed, opening the scroll to show the mystical item that had been activated. The moving illustration on the scroll displayed a black figure placing a crown on their head, causing them to grow until the image was completely black. "The Kahuna's Crown allows its wearer to become large and in charge!"

"I have already experienced being in charge and large," Omi boasted to Willow. "It's not all it is chopped in to be."

Willow giggled. "You mean, 'it's not all it's cut out to be'?" Omi blushed while Raimundo and Willow continued to laugh.

"Why don't we take Tito and Willow to retrieve the new Wu?" Raimundo asked his friends. "What could be better than testing them on something we do every day? Anyone else want to ride our dragon?" The trainees standing in the background began to cower, seemingly afraid of Dojo's enlarged form.

"Onwards to victory!" boomed Tito, leaping onto Dojo's back as soon as the dragon had finished growing to his full size.

"I can sense that the crown isn't too far from here!" Dojo explained as the others hopped on, with Raimundo and Clay helping Willow. "There's a forest at the foot of this mountain!"

Guan, Manu and Chucky waved them off as the dragon took to the skies. The martial arts master then turned his attention to the crowd of delinquent trainees that had surrounded Willow. "What do you have to say for yourselves? Such behaviour towards visitors will not be tolerated," Guan sternly said to the sorrowful looking students. "You're going to have to leave."

"You didn't see it?" asked one of the trainees, a look of fear in his eyes. "That girl…there's something wrong about her."

* * *

><p>It was only a short journey to the forest, but it gave the Xiaolin Warriors plenty of time to introduce themselves to the new arrival. Raimundo was sitting closest to Dojo's head, while Willow sat between him and Clay. Kimiko and Omi sat behind the three of them, while Tito clung tightly to Dojo's tail in dread. The four Shoku Warriors and Willow gracefully leapt off Dojo as he came below the trees, while Tito landed with a thud.<p>

Dojo shrank and started to slither across the forest floor, sniffing the ground like a bloodhound. "This Wu smells pretty strange compared to the others," he said in between sniffs. "Smells sort of like…pudding cups."

"What a cute little dragon!" Willow chuckled.

"Thank you, Willow," Omi said, turning bright red.

Willow laughed softly again and patted the warrior of water on the shoulder as they followed Dojo. "I meant the actual dragon! But, I'm not saying that you're not cute too," she said, much to Omi's delight.

Tito and Clay walked together, although the warrior of earth was still wary of him. "I am sorry for the trouble I caused you and your friends the last time we met, señor Bailey. After acting dishonourably, I decided to redeem myself by training in the ways of Xiaolin, so I could become as heroic as you."

Clay smiled slightly. "Well, that's mighty nice of you mister Lobo. Perhaps we'll get along after all!"

Dojo stopped in his tracks, finally spotting the object that his nose had detected. Raimundo followed where Dojo was looking and ran towards a hollow log, pulling out a shiny metal object. Instead of the Kahuna's Crown, the Xiaolin leader held an octahedron shaped device topped with a crown of spikes and an antenna. The strange object was technological as opposed to magical in nature, buzzing and beeping as the lights on its surface flickered on and off.

"That's not a Shen Gong Wu at all!" Dojo exclaimed. "But it sure smells like one!"

The object suddenly flipped open, startling Raimundo and the others who had gathered around him. Inside the device was a crudely drawn image of Jack Spicer, grinning at them. "You've been Jacked, baby!" said a low quality recording of Jack's voice.

Suddenly, a dozen or so Jack-Bots burst from the surrounding bushes and trees, brandishing their various bladed and laser weapons. These robots looked slightly different to the usual drones that the boy genius deployed, with red t-shaped visors that glowed fiendishly.

"Shoku Astro! Wind!" Raimundo cried, conjuring miniature tornados that wrapped around two of the robots, pulling them to pieces.

"Kaijin Charm!" yelled Omi, placing his elemental Shen Gong Wu on his arm. "Shimo Staff! Water!" The tip of the tiny rod he held extended and split into several spears of ice, impaling a couple of Jack-Bots.

A Jack-Bot extended its arms, ensnaring Tito. The wrestler simply growled in response, swinging the robot around and crashing it into its comrades. Omi and Raimundo had to duck out of the way, or else they would have been battered by the attack too. However, they were pleased to notice that Tito had vanquished more robots than they had. Tito finished by pulling in the Jack-Bot that had grappled him, smashing it to bits with a single head butt.

Kimiko weaved in and out of the Jack-Bots laser fire before tossing a Shen Gong Wu towards them. "Star Hanabi! Fire!" she yelled as the tiny star caught alight, spinning through the air and striking down the robots that surrounded her. The Hanabi Star returned to her hand like a boomerang.

More Jack-Bots closed in on Kimiko, but Clay came running to her defence, skidding to a halt in front of her and raising his arms upwards. "Shoku Jupiter! Earth!" Clay shouted, slamming his fists into the ground. A fissure extended towards a line of Jack-Bots, and then spikes of stone erupted from it, impaling them.

Clay and his friends failed to notice the remaining Jack-Bots creeping up behind him, lasers at the ready. However, Willow picked up two stones that had been scattered by the warrior of earth's elemental powers and tossed them towards the machines. The stones were suddenly encased in mystical white lightning, obliterating the two closest robots, and then continuing on to destroy the rest. The attack had occurred so quickly that none of the Xiaolin Warriors had noticed the magic that Willow had used.

"Our two new comrades have survived their first Jack-Bot encounter, but I fear what Jack Spicer has done with the Kahuna's Crown!" Omi exclaimed as the heroes gathered together after the battle. "It is most worrying how Jack managed to replicate the activation of a Shen Gong Wu!"

* * *

><p>In a cave not too far from the forest, Jack Spicer had set up some machines from his lair. The computers were wired up to a spherical container that held the Kahuna's Crown, a golden piece of headgear decorated with tiki like figures. With a loud humming sound, the cables attached to the crown's control sphere began to briefly glow orange, and then a machine nearby produced a luminous cylinder. The container, large and heavy enough to require two men, was lifted by Vlad and Tubbimura onto a stack of similar containers.<p>

"Just a few more to go!" said Jack eagerly. "These magical batteries are awesome; twice as powerful as nuclear energy and none of the environmental hazards!"

Vlad wiped the sweat from his brow. "Are you certain that these magic batteries will not cause mutation?" he questioned, gasping for breath.

"Eh, who cares?" Jack replied, putting his feet up on the computer console as he waited for another power cell to be generated. "Mutation triggers evolution, and I'm gonna evolve into the greatest evil genius ever! The future of evil starts in 2006, and it's me!"

The supernatural power cells were standing next to a stream that ran out of the cave, leading to a river at its entrance. Magical energy seeped out from the stack of batteries and into the stream, creating a shimmering light on the surface that was carried outside with the flow of water. At the mouth of the cave, a deer began to drink from the cool river, unaware that it was steadily increasing in size.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at Guan's Temple, the trainees were preparing to go home. A few of them helped to clear up the debris that had been left from Tito's attempt at the obstacle course, while Guan looked forlornly across the expansive courtyard with Manu at his side.<p>

"I thought that there would be more students with the potential," he said, folding his arms.

"I'm sure the Xiaolin Warriors are happy with Tito and Willow!" Manu added, cheerfully. "It'll be a tough decision when it's time to pick one of them, though."

Manu and Guan went inside the temple's main hall, but Chucky Choo was left outside, calculating the cost of the equipment that would need to be replaced. The dragon's work was interrupted by the sound of distant, rapid footsteps coming from the massive staircase that led up the mountain to the entrance of the sanctuary grounds.

A tiny figure ran into the courtyard, darting from place to place like a dragonfly. The stranger moved so fast that Chucky could not see them; some of the trainees that were getting ready to leave were knocked off their feet by the visitor's extreme speed. Finally, the figure came to a halt in front of Chucky, and the dragon was surprised. It was Omi, or at least it appeared to be him. The boy wore a pair of round, green tinted spectacles that were far too large for his face. He also appeared slightly shorter than Omi.

"Monsieur dragon! Où est le Xiaolin Warriors?" the boy frantically asked Chucky; his voice sounded even squeakier than the warrior of water's.

"Practicing French already, Omi? You barely have a grasp of English!" Chucky replied with a chuckle. "I thought you left with Dojo and the others!"

The boy looked confused by the name that the dragon had addressed him by, but rephrased his question in English. "Could you tell me which way the Xiaolin Warriors went?"

"They went to the forest at the foot of the mountain," answered Chucky, "I'd take you down in my vending truck, but you seem quicker on your feet!"

With a smile and a bow, the boy left as quickly as he arrived. "Danke, danke! Auf wiedersehen!" he said as he left, and Chucky Choo was left scratching his head.

* * *

><p>The Xiaolin Warriors were busy leading their two recruits through the forest, with Raimundo holding Dojo ahead of him like a dowsing rod. Dojo had detected the scent of the real Kahuna's Crown, and was directing them towards it.<p>

There was a sudden rumbling noise in the air, startling the party. "Sounds like a stampede," Clay exclaimed, carefully analyzing the sound. "But it sounds like its coming from some pretty huge critters, bigger than any cattle I've heard of."

Raimundo noticed some huge shapes moving towards them, out of the shadows of the forest. He quickly called to his allies to take cover, causing them to jump well out of the way of the stampeding creatures. The Xiaolin Warriors watched the stampede go by in bewilderment; the creatures looked exactly like deer, but they were so massive that they were almost as tall as the trees.

"Okay, looks like we're definitely near the Kahuna's Crown!" Dojo proclaimed as the deer vanished back into the forest despite their huge size.

"I thought that the crown only affected the wearer," Kimiko said. "Jack must've done something to it! He's using it to raise an army of giant woodland creatures!"

Omi gulped audibly out of fear. "There is one particular woodland creature that I do not wish to see enlarged."

"Omi's scared of squirrels," Raimundo said with a chuckle, nudging Willow's arm. "I'm not scared of much though."

Willow frowned at the Shoku Leader. "There's nothing wrong about being afraid of small things," she said. "There's no need to tease little Omi." Raimundo rolled his eyes as Omi immediately hopped to stand next to her with a grin.

* * *

><p>The heroes continued forward, eventually coming to the river. Dojo found that the scent of the Kahuna's Crown seemed to be carried down by the stream, and it was coming from somewhere up ahead. The wind was rustling so loudly in the treetops that the Xiaolin Warriors did not notice the large creatures lurking in the branches above them.<p>

With a loud crash, several enormous beetles dropped down from above, surrounding the party. Each of them was the size of a man, but their movements seemed slow and sluggish. One of the insects was lying on its back, its six legs flailing in the air. The heroes had assumed a fighting stance, but dropped their guard when they realized how helpless the beetles seemed.

"They're not attacking," Raimundo whispered. "They seem a little sick."

Clay put a finger to his chin as he pondered the situation. "Insects need to be small for their bodies to work properly. Now they're this big, their bodies don't work well at all."

The heroes turned their attention towards the sound of frantic footsteps and panting. From the bushes a few metres ahead emerged the tiny, round headed boy. The warriors of wind, water, fire and earth eyed the boy in disbelief, for he looked practically identical to Omi. Dojo slithered up Clay's body to sit on his shoulder and look at the stranger in disbelief as well.

"Omi, did you use the Ring of the Nine Dragons without Master Fung's permission again?" Dojo asked the warrior of water.

Omi's doppelganger darted towards them with a great smile on his face, shaking each warrior's hand. He began speaking frantically in a multitude of different languages, unable to contain his excitement. He was practically bouncing around, looking like a yellow ball of energy. Kimiko immediately produced her handheld computer from her pocket and tried to translate what the little boy was saying.

"Take it easy, little dude," Raimundo said, stopping the boy by grasping his shoulder.

"Lo siento, Xiaolin Warrior Raimundo," the boy said, managing to calm down surprisingly rapidly. "I have been very eager to meet you!"

"He knows lots of languages!" Kimiko said. "He must've been travelling all over the world trying to find us."

"He is a number one fan!" Omi exclaimed. "No wonder he looks so much like me!"

The tiny lookalike looked puzzled for a moment, briefly glancing at his reflection in the river beside them. "Ah, brother Omi, you are most observant! I have witnessed you are true to your reputation!"

"Anyone can see you look like him," Clay added with a chuckle.

"I must formally introduce myself! My official title is Boris Antonio Rolf Jean-Pierre Gaulle Le Grand…the fourth!" chirped the multilingual monk. "I was hoping you would consider me for your new apprentice."

"That name's quite a mouthful," the warrior of earth said, quite surprised at the boy's lengthy name. "I'll get tongue tied just thinking about it!"

"You are in need of a title worthy of a fearsome warrior if you wish to join us!" Omi proclaimed, causing his doppelganger to bounce around in excitement once again.

"Tell him he needs to slow down, too!" Dojo grumbled. "It's like trying to keep your eyes on the ball in a ping pong match."

"I do not know what ping pong is, but it sounds like a fearsome and fast activity!" Omi yelled. "From now on, your moniker is Ping Pong!"

The small boy's eyes lit up with excitement. "Fantastique! I have never had a nickname before!" He hugged Omi tightly, demonstrating surprising strength that squeezed the air out of the water warrior's lungs.

Tito approached Raimundo and tapped the warrior of wind on the shoulder. "Are you sure this boy should join us? He claims to be a warrior in training, yet he seems too young to experience battle! In a few years he may be a strong fighter, but your search for the fifth chosen one commences now! There is no time to wait!"

"He's out by himself in the middle of the forest, we've gotta protect him," Raimundo whispered sternly. "We'll find where he lives and take him home."

Ping Pong suddenly turned his attention towards the giant beetles struggling about, looking at them forlornly. Clay quickly grabbed hold of him before the boy could get closer to the potentially dangerous insects. Suddenly, an enormous white butterfly descended from the canopy, but it quickly fell out of the air and landed with a thud on riverbank. Ping Pong managed to break free of Clay's grip and rushed to the fallen insect.

"These creatures aren't dangerous," Ping Pong muttered, "They're victims!" He lifted the gigantic insect and cradled it in his arms, even though its wingspan was as wide as he was tall. "Something has made them big by force! When someone harms nature, it is the little creatures that pay the price…"

Kimiko ran to comfort Ping Pong, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We know who's doing this to the poor things. If you want to help restore the balance of nature in this forest, then you're worthy of working with us!"

"Ping Pong, for one so tender, you speak with great wisdom," Omi said softly.

"It must be the evil boy genius, Jack Spicer! I have admired you from afar for a very long time, brother Omi! I know of the many evildoers you have faced!" Ping Pong said excitedly, cheering up.

"Indeed!" Omi exclaimed. "Jack is cooking up a pot of evil stew!"

Tito ran ahead, following Dojo as he slithered alongside the river towards a cave in the distance. "We have no time to think about the measly insects! We must complete our mission!"

Tito's lack of care for the hurt animals made Omi and his lookalike scowl at him, but they followed the wrestler along with their other comrades. Willow stayed at the back of the group, eyeing the newcomer cautiously.

* * *

><p>It was not long before the Xiaolin Warriors and the three hopeful apprentices had entered the cave, and it became apparent to them that it was the current dwelling of the evil boy genius. The walls of the cavern were fitted with lights and power cables, fuelling the many machines that they could hear deep inside the lair. Ahead they could see the ominous red glow from the eyes of Jack's robots approaching.<p>

Raimundo quickly handed Tito and Willow a Shen Gong Wu each. "I think you guys are ready to try out our Shen Gong Wu against these robo-bozos!"

Willow was armed with the Wyrm's Whisker and Tito was armed with the Osu Stone. Willow immediately used the energy whip Shen Gong Wu to shatter several incoming robots to pieces with a mighty crack, while Tito laughed diabolically and used his mystical item to push a few of the machines into a wall.

"Crest of the Condor! Blade of the Nebula! Wind!" Raimundo yelled, placing his elemental Shen Gong Wu on his arm and unleashing the full power of his Wudai Weapon. The sword released a mighty tornado that crackled with electricity, obliterating what seemed to be the rest of the Jack-bots.

The Xiaolin Warriors continued onwards, passing the pile of debris that was all that remained of the robots. Unbeknownst to the rest of the party, Ping Pong lagged behind, taking his time to stare at the pieces of the machines that his new friends had vanquished. All of a sudden, an intact Jack-bot burst out of the pile. The rest of the party turned to see the Jack-bot leering over the tiny monk, but it seemed like it would be too late for them to save him.

Three glowing dots appeared on Ping Pong's forehead, and the small boy leapt into the air. "Piggy Taking Bubble Bath!" Ping Pong yelled, slamming down upon the mechanical foe. To the surprise of the Xiaolin Warriors, Ping Pong struck the robot with such force that it was smashed to pieces.

"Ping Pong, are you alright?" Raimundo asked, running to the little monk's side.

As the small boy got back on his feet and dusted himself off, Dojo slithered towards him excitedly. "He's more than just alright! That was a signature move from the Lotus Locust Clan! The last person who used that move was a Xiaolin Dragon!"

Omi became excited as well, placing a hand on Ping Pong's shoulder. "From now on, I would like to refer to you as my gecko!"

The party proceeded through the cave, but Omi and Ping Pong stayed at the back to talk privately. "I accept the title of Gecko, brother Omi!" the bespectacled warrior said animatedly.

The warrior of water began to whisper to his lookalike. "I have only known you for a very short time, but the sound of 'brother Omi' is growing louder inside me. It is quite clear to me you will be my choice of apprentice!"

Jack Spicer could hear the footsteps of the approaching warriors, ordering his lackeys to pick up the pace. Using the Kahuna's Crown once again, the villain produced one last mystical energy battery. Just as Vlad and Tubbimura stacked it on top of the other batteries, the Xiaolin Warriors made their entrance. Several Jack-bots tried to stop them from entering the chamber, but they were swatted away by the combined efforts of Willow with the Wyrm's Whisker and Kimiko with the Third Arm Sash.

"I see we're a bit late to the party," Raimundo said, observing the laboratory that Jack had set up around the Kahuna's Crown.

Omi and Ping Pong leapt in front of Raimundo, assuming a fighting stance immediately. "All this hard work must be making me feel a little woozy!" Jack exclaimed, rubbing his eyes. "I think I can see two chrome domes!"

"Ping Pong, Willow and Tito are our hopeful apprentices!" Omi announced.

"And they're about to take their first exam," Raimundo added. "Kicking your butt!"

Jack laughed and folded his arms. "You and your newbie friends are too late! As you can see, the Kahuna's Crown is in my impenetrable containment unit! Better shield their eyes, because my new evil plan might shatter their new and fragile minds!"

Unseen by the rest of the heroes, or by the villains, Willow slipped away into the shadows and vanished completely. As the heroes fought the swarm of Jack-bots being sent to combat them, Willow re-emerged from the wall behind the spherical container that held the crown. Before sinking back into the shadows, Willow pulled several wires from their sockets.

While Jack was laughing at the Jack-bots beginning to overwhelm the heroes, his machines suddenly stopped functioning. The globe that encased the Kahuna's Crown opened up, and it did not take long for Clay to notice. The warrior of earth leapt for the exposed Shen Gong Wu while Jack did the same, expressing disgust at how his machines had suddenly failed.

Clay saw that Tubbimura and Vlad were closing in on him as well, but he was pleased to see that Tito was rushing to his aid. Just as Clay, Tito, Jack and the two evil cronies were about to touch the Kahuna's Crown, Ping Pong was sent flying from the explosion of a Jack-bot. As expected, all six of them touched the Shen Gong Wu at once.

"It's already ours!" Jack shouted at Clay and the two newcomers, "But it'll be fun to see how mini chrome dome and the masked moron blow this showdown for you! Let's have a canoe race through the river caves! I wager the Shroud of Shadows!"

"We wager the Thorn of Thunderbolt and Tangle Web Comb!" Vlad said as he and Tubbimura presented their wagered items.

"I wager the Silk Spitter!" proclaimed Clay.

"And I shall wager the Osu Stone!" added Tito.

Ping Pong looked panicked all of a sudden. "I do not have a Shen Gong Wu to wager!"

Watching the spectacle unfold, Kimiko pulled the Orb of Tornami from Omi's grasp and threw it into the hands of his lookalike. "I'm sure Omi won't mind if you wager this! It is a canoe race, so water Shen Gong Wu might help!" Omi looked greatly perturbed, but he tried to show faith in Ping Pong by forcing a smile.

"Let's go! Xiaolin Showdown!" yelled Jack.

With a sudden flash of light from the Kahuna's Crown, the cave system began to warp and transform. Clay, Tito and Ping Pong suddenly found themselves sitting in a wooden canoe, floating on a stream of water suspended in a dark void. There were enormous boulders drifting through the space, like asteroids. While Ping Pong was looking around frantically, trying to process his new surroundings, Jack and his two henchmen appeared in a canoe beside them. Finally, a double bladed paddle appeared in each competitor's hands.

"Gong Yi Tan Pai!" yelled Clay and Jack.

The set off immediately, but the villains were lagging behind. Jack angrily looked back to see what was hampering his speed; Tubbimura was weighing the canoe down at the back, causing the front end to be held higher in the air.

"Of all the henchmen I could've bought to this race, I had to choose you," the boy genius muttered to the self-conscious looking ninja.

The heroes were a few metres ahead, but they were still experiencing difficulties. While Ping Pong and Tito were paddling perfectly, Clay was having great difficulty in wielding his paddle. "I'm sorry guys; I ain't used to paddling down a river!"

Tito was growing incredibly frustrated, but looked back at Jack Spicer. The boy genius laughed maniacally as he and Vlad pushed Tubbimura overboard, gleefully waving goodbye as the overweight crony drifted downstream, coughing and spluttering. Jack tossed his paddle away and lied back onto Vlad's lap, putting his feet up on the front of the canoe.

"Full steam ahead!" the boy genius yelled, pointing forwards.

Vlad put all of his might into paddling until his arms became a blur, propelling the canoe forward almost as fast as a speedboat. Now the Xiaolin side was far behind, Tito was furious. The wrestler looked back at Clay, who was still fumbling around with his paddle and looking incredibly embarrassed.

"I am sorry, señor Bailey, but in order to gain the advantage we must cast aside the obstacles that are holding us back!" bellowed Tito.

Clay was caught completely off guard by Tito suddenly unleashing the power of the Osu Stone, pushing the warrior of earth overboard. Stood upon a floating rock platform high above the river, the other Xiaolin Warriors looked on in disgust.

"That isn't apprentice material!" yelled Raimundo. "El Guapo Loco just stooped to Jack's level!"

"I hope that Ping Pong can show Tito what being a Xiaolin Warrior is about!" Omi added.

Tito grinned and looked at the Osu Stone in his hand. "I did it! I finally defeated señor Bailey!" He turned to Ping Pong and snapped at the young warrior. "Little boy! Give this canoe a burst of speed!"

Ping Pong, intimidated by the fearsome wrestler, used the Orb of Tornami to create a jet of water that propelled the canoe forward. The two of them caught up with Jack and Vlad quickly, but when Tito decided to use the Osu Stone against them, the villainous duo were pushed into the lead once again.

"He doesn't even know how to use that thing properly!" Dojo cried.

As Jack and Vlad sped ahead, rocks suddenly emerged from out of the water, creating a series of obstacles. The boy genius squealed and covered his eyes, but Vlad managed to steer around the jagged rocks easily. Jack removed his hands from his face and looked at a rock they passed by; he suddenly had a wicked idea.

"Shroud of Shadows!" he announced, placing the black cloak like Shen Gong Wu over the rock to make it seemingly vanish.

Tito and Ping Pong managed to avoid the rocks that came before it, but did not see the final invisible rock. The canoe hit the rock hard, pulling the Shroud of Shadows from it. The impact sent Tito tumbling into the water with a yelp, but Ping Pong managed to stay onboard. Ping Pong noticed that the canoe had split in two, but the two halves stayed afloat.

Thinking fast, Ping Pong grabbed hold of the Silk Spitter Shen Gong Wu. Using the sticky webs it created as an adhesive, Ping Pong pulled the two halves of the canoe together and restored its functionality. Ping Pong grabbed hold of his paddle with all of his might, moving his arms at a speed that was even greater than what Vlad had achieved.

Jack saw the lightning fast warrior gaining speed, and ordered Vlad to stop paddling and use the Thorn of Thunderbolt against him. Even though there were a great number of them, Ping Pong managed to weave in and out of the thunderbolts that were being sent in his direction.

"Silk Spitter!" cried Ping Pong, retaliating with sticky threads.

Vlad and Jack were entangled in a mess of silk, unable to free themselves so they could continue paddling. Ping Pong overtook the evil duo as their struggling caused their canoe to capsize, causing his allies to cheer him on. The tiny monk saw the Kahuna's Crown sitting on a rock in the middle of the stream ahead, and managed to snatch it as he went past.

In a flash of light, the environment returned back to normal. Jack, Vlad, Tubbimura and Tito were angrily splashing about in the water as the Xiaolin Warriors helped Clay out. Omi and Kimiko embraced Ping Pong, who handed them the Shen Gong Wu he had managed to win. Tito managed to get to his feet and waded towards his comrades, but Raimundo scowled at him.

"What a glorious victory! I hope the quick thinking that I used in the showdown has earned me the right to be Xiaolin Apprentice!" Tito said with a grin.

"Sorry bud, but we only let nice guys on our team," Raimundo said sternly. "Even when they're struggling, you should always count on your friends. Don't leave them behind."

"You're still one crazy son of a gun!" Clay added, ringing out the water from his neckerchief. The warrior of earth looked down at the triumphant Ping Pong. "Way to go little hombre!"

"I see how it is!" Tito growled, stepping out of the water. "It is you who are all unworthy! I am not the kind of warrior who allows his comrades to make costly mistakes! I shall take my matters elsewhere!"

Ping Pong pushed himself away from Kimiko and Omi's embrace and leapt forward to combat the violent wrestler. "Ping Pong Slapping Mosquito!" he cried.

The tiny warrior leapt up and smacked Tito in the face, but it did not harm the wrestler. However, Ping Pong continued to slap Tito all over his body, until the constant barrage was unbearable. Tito tried to swat the boy himself, but Ping Pong was too fast to catch. The only option for the wrestler to escape the bombardment was to run away. Ping Pong turned set his sights on Jack Spicer and his henchmen, but the boy genius was already running away with what remained of his machines and his Jack-bots.

"Not only are you a fierce fighter, you're the most adorable fighter!" Kimiko exclaimed, giving Ping Pong another hug to calm him down.

Omi looked rather envious; Ping Pong looked identical to him, and yet Kimiko never really showed him much affection. Willow approached him and patted his head, smiling at him. "As far as I'm concerned, you're the most adorable fighter! There's no need to feel jealous."

* * *

><p>Eventually, the four Xiaolin Warriors and their two new friends returned to the Xiaolin Temple. The six of them gathered in the temple's main hall, where Master Fung approached them. "It appears that you have been taking the search for the new apprentice very seriously. I am pleased to hear that Ping Pong emerged victorious from his first Xiaolin Showdown."<p>

"I think we all know who's gonna be the fifth warrior!" Dojo exclaimed, sitting on Master Fung's shoulder. Ping Pong blushed and looked down at his feet, avoiding eye contact out of timidity. However, it was still clear that he was happy.

"It's too soon to tell, Dojo," Raimundo said. "Willow didn't get a chance to be in a showdown today. We'll be able to decide once we see her in action."

"Seems the search for the new apprentice is gonna take a lot longer than we thought," Clay added.

Willow seemed somewhat uneasy. "I really don't wanna hold you guys back," she said. "Maybe I should drop out; I was late to sign up after all."

"You should stay and compete," Omi said softly, fearing that Willow was upset. "You will have plenty of time to prove yourself!"

Dojo sighed loudly. "Well, I was really only expecting one new mouth to feed tonight. I was going to throw a welcoming feast for the new apprentice."

Kimiko laughed nervously, remembering Dojo's previous cooking attempt. "Maybe we should get someone else to cook tonight's dinner."

Master Fung looked at Willow and Ping Pong with a smile. "Two hopeful warriors remain," he said, before shifting to a slightly wary tone. "You must make your decision soon, for I sense a dark cloud is on the horizon."

* * *

><p>Far away, in the dark mountains, Chase Young waited in his lair. The interior of his mountain lair resembled a series of dark caves to better suit his change in personality, as the elegant citadel had been demolished by his previous rampage. Chase was standing at his scrying pool, which illuminated the chamber with an eerie green glow. In the waters of the pool, the Heylin warrior could see Willow cheerfully interacting with the Xiaolin Warriors.<p>

Suddenly, the blonde haired girl herself appeared beside Chase, looking into the scrying pool with him. "Have I infiltrated the Temple well?" she asked the immortal evildoer.

The image in the water faded from view as Chase turned his attention to her. "Yes, mighty Shadow," he replied with a chuckle. "A curtain of darkness shall soon descend upon the Xiaolin Warriors."

Willow was enveloped in a shroud of blackness, and when the darkness lifted itself, she had taken on a new appearance. Her pure white outfit had been replaced by a suit of dark purple armour and headband, and her once blonde hair was now a dark green. Her eyes were strikingly reptilian, just like her master's.

"The forces of evil will reign supreme, and we'll rule what's left of the world side by side," she chuckled, her voice sounding much less innocent and naïve.

The two of them laughed in unison, and their amusement was joined by the triumphant roars of the jungle cats that surrounded them. Above the mountains, a flash of lightning lit up the night sky, and the moon was enveloped by ominous clouds.


End file.
